India’s key opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday reckoned that nobody had the “guts” to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he was wrong, citing a video in which the latter could be heard suggesting that wind turbines could be potentially used to “suck” moisture and “separate” oxygen from air.
“The real danger to India isn’t that our PM doesn’t understand. It’s the fact that nobody around him has the guts to tell him”, tweeted Rahul Gandhi, a parliamentarian and former chief of India’s main opposition party Congress.
The video cited by Gandhi was of a virtual discussion on 6 October between Prime Minister Modi and Henrik Andersen, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Denmark-headquartered renewable energy company Vestas Wind Systems.
“Great talk with Hon’ble PM @narendramodi on innovative ideas that can push the envelope in the #energytransition. Very insightful and we are very much looking forward to a continued collaboration and increased footprint in India.” @Vestas’ Henrik Andersen. pic.twitter.com/bUtcoLsD7G
— Vestas Wind Systems (@Vestas) October 6, 2020
“At places where there is more humidity in the air, the wind turbines could be used to suck moisture from the air to produce clean drinking water. That way, the wind turbines could be used to produce both energy and clean drinking water”, Prime Minister Modi is heard saying in the video.
“People living along the coast usually experience shortage of potable water. So, wind turbines could be helpful in solving the crisis of drinking water in such areas”, Modi goes on to suggest.
“My second suggestion is that we could employ these turbines to separate oxygen from air as well. It could be challenging, of course… But if we are able to develop a technology to do so, the wind turbine could be put to several uses at once", he says in the video.
“The wind turbines could be employed to produce wind energy, suck moisture from air to produce drinking water and separate oxygen from air at the same time. It could be like a three-in-one process”, Modi concludes his argument.
In response, the Danish business leader said: “Dear Prime Minister Modi. I can’t say… But, I am smiling. And I am smiling at your passion and your excitement”.
“I can guarantee you that if you should have the wish to come and visit me in Denmark, you will be a very loyal idea generator for our research and development both for Denmark and India… Because you will be challenging our engineers. I can’t say how pleased I am at your ideas”, Andersen could be heard telling the Indian prime minister.
