Indian PM Narendra Modi visits Masdar City

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, yesterday visited the zero-carbon Masdar City in Abu Dhabi as part of a two day visit to the UAE, aimed at strengthening ties between the UAE and India.

Mr. Modi, after reaching the venue, took a ride on one of the Personal Rapid Transit Pods (PRTs), to the PRT station at Masdar Institute campus, accompanied by Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and head of the Honorary Mission accompanying Mr. Modi.

Upon arrival, Prime Minister Modi was welcomed by Dr. Ahmad Belhoul, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar and Nawal Al-Hosany, Director of Sustainability at Masdar and Manager of the Zayed Future Energy Prize.

The distinguished guest began the tour by visiting the Masdar Institute Laboratory, where he was given a briefing by Masdar officials about various core facilities. Then he toured Masdar City, the low-carbon, low waste development and the campus of the Masdar Institute, the Middle East's first home grown, graduate level research driven institute dedicated to renewable energy and clean technologies. The Indian Prime Minister was given a comprehensive overview of Masdar's objectives and related projects.

Mr. Modi was provided with a comprehensive demonstration of the objective of establishing Masdar as a long-term and multi-faceted strategic initiative. The presentation covered all aspects of the value chain in the renewable energy sector including education, research and development, investment in clean technology, implementing projects of generating renewable energy, reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and building Masdar City to be one of the most sustainable cities in the world, acting as a global hub for leading companies in technology and advanced innovations sectors.

The Indian Prime Minister also signed the electronic guestbook and visited the modern wind tower which cools the main yard of Masdar Institute by using water spray to bring cooling breezes to the area.

At the end of the visit, the Indian Premier chaired an Investor meeting, which was also attended by Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, and Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy of the UAE, in addition to UAE businessmen and the Indian business community.