“India can play a pivotal role in solar power generation because of its geographic advantage like availability of land and high solar irradiation in the desert,” said Naoki Sakai, Asian Development Bank's (ADB) senior climate change specialist for the South Asia Department’s Energy Division and mission leader of the Gujarat solar power transmission project.

In 2001, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved its Water for All policy to promote water as a socially vital economic good that needs increasingly careful management. One imperative of the policy was to raise awareness on water challenges and the urgent need to address them.

Two years later in 2003, as part of a bank-wide water awareness program, ADB launched the Water Voices documentary series, a set of seven compelling documentaries about people finding local solutions to important water-related problems in Asia and the Pacific.

On 26 January 2001, an earthquake registering 6.9 on the Richter scale struck the Indian state of Gujarat. The 2-minute temblor was the worst to hit the state in the last half century. Punctuated by month-long aftershocks registering 3–6 on the Richter scale, it destroyed four Gujarat districts and affected another 21. The death toll rose to 20,000 and more than 200,000 persons were injured. Almost 2 million were left homeless, and no less than 20 million were affected.

In 2 years, the Indian city of Mumbai transformed its great eyesore—a 19.6-hectare landfill with 80-foot high waste—into a vast expanse of greenery with considerable revenue-generating potential. Carbon credit financing catalyzed this transformation.

Irrigation modernization ought to focus on innovations that help produce more food with less water. It entails a continuous process of improving infrastructure, operations, and management to allow irrigation systems to operate at maximum capacity; and to enable farmers to optimize the productivity of their land using available water.

This presentation makes the case for the modernization of water resources management and river basin planning, irrigation infrastructure, and the operation and management among institutions. Addressing climate change and the rapidly increasing competing uses for water are among the important reasons for the need to modernize.

To address climate change as currently the biggest challenge faced by farmers, Akay Flavours & Aromatics has conceptualized solutions to increase climate resilience, improve irrigation, and provide youth training. Efficient usage of fresh water, according to the company, is the key to food production and security.