Tata Power Deploys Salesforce Agentforce to Revolutionize Renewable Energy Operations

Tata Power, one of India’s largest vertically integrated power companies, today announced its collaboration with Salesforce, the world’s #1 AI CRM*, to digitally transform its rapidly expanding rooftop solar (RTS), EV charging, and smart home solutions businesses. The collaboration reinforces Tata Power’s long-term clean energy roadmap aligned with India’s net-zero ambitions by establishing a secure, intelligent, and fully integrated clean energy ecosystem powered by AI, automation, and data-driven insights. The platform will enable scalable growth, deeper partner and customer engagement, and operational excellence across the renewable energy value chain.

As part of this transformation, Tata Power has deployed Agentforce Sales, Agentforce Service, and Agentforce Marketing across its renewable energy subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL). The Salesforce platform powers intelligent, AI-enabled workflows that enhance visibility, accelerate decision-making, and create seamless omnichannel experiences—driving efficiency, agility, and service leadership at scale.

Agentforce Sales and Agentforce Service form the foundation of Tata Power’s best-in-class omnichannel engagement model. Salesforce serves as a strategic digital backbone for Tata Power’s high-growth renewable energy businesses. The platform enables end-to-end digitisation of partners and customer journeys, delivering streamlined lead management, inventory visibility, process automation, and real-time performance tracking. This ensures enhanced transparency, operational efficiency, and a superior customer experience across touchpoints.

Additionally, Tata Power has developed a proprietary deep learning and agentic intelligence layer built on top of Salesforce to enable a zero-touch quality and safety validation process. This digital capability facilitates instant on-site verification and automated warranty generation, reinforcing Tata Power’s commitment to quality assurance and delivery excellence under its Solaroof offerings.

Driven by strong policy momentum under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Yojana, Tata Power’s residential rooftop solar segment has delivered over 200% growth across the past two financial years. Overall, the Company’s solar portfolio has achieved a fivefold increase in revenues between FY2020 and FY2025, reflecting accelerated market adoption, digital-led execution excellence, and expanding customer trust across segments.

Looking ahead, Tata Power and Salesforce will collaborate to co-innovate high-impact, agentic AI-led workflows designed to transform omnichannel customer and partner contact centre operations - driving faster resolution, proactive service, and predictive engagement.

Dr Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD Tata Power said, “Tata Power is leading India’s green energy transition by scaling rooftop solar nationwide, expanding EV charging infrastructure, and advancing intelligent energy management solutions. As we accelerate this growth, digital capability is a critical enabler of scale, speed, and customer trust. Leveraging Salesforce’s AI-powered platform, we are transforming customer and partner journeys with greater transparency and agility, while strengthening operational excellence. Together, we are building a future-ready clean energy ecosystem that advances India’s net-zero ambitions.”

Arundhati Bhattacharya, President & CEO at Salesforce - South Asia, said, "The path to a sustainable future is being paved by visionary enterprises that are embedding intelligence, agility, and customer-centricity into the core of their operations. Tata Power’s digital-first approach to accelerating India’s green energy mission exemplifies how technology can be a powerful catalyst for national transformation. At Salesforce, we are proud to partner with Tata Power in building a future-ready energy ecosystem—one that harnesses the power of data, AI, and automation to drive scalable impact, inclusive growth, and long-term climate resilience.”

India’s Coastlines Are Sinking—Kolkata, Chennai, and Visakhapatnam Most Exposed

A new University of Rhode Island (URI) study has revealed that India’s coastline is sinking at alarming rates, with some areas subsiding up to 44 mm per year. This widespread coastal subsidence, combined with sea-level rise, threatens millions of residents in low-lying regions, especially across the east coast deltas.

Key Findings from the URI Study

• Scope of study: First comprehensive satellite-based assessment of vertical land motion along India’s 7,500 km coastline.
• Data source: 8 years of Sentinel-1 radar satellite observations (2016–2024).
• Subsidence hotspots: Five major east coast deltas (including Ganga-Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery) and urban centers such as Kolkata, Chennai, and Visakhapatnam.
• Rates of subsidence: Maximum recorded: 44 mm/year in localized hotspots; widespread areas: 5–20 mm/year.
• Population at risk: 8.5 million people currently live in zones subsiding faster than 5 mm/year.
• Overall exposure: Over 200 million people reside within 100 km of India’s coastline, making them vulnerable to combined effects of sinking land and rising seas.

Impact Overview

Factor	Details	Risk Level
Subsidence rate	Up to 44 mm/year	Severe in hotspots
Affected regions	East coast deltas, major coastal cities	High
Population exposed	8.5 million in high-subsidence zones	Critical
Flood risk	Increased due to combined sea-level rise + sinking land	Extreme
Infrastructure	Ports, housing, agriculture, and transport corridors	Vulnerable

Risks & Challenges

• Flooding: Low-lying areas face accelerated flood risks as subsidence compounds sea-level rise.
• Agriculture: Delta regions risk salinization and reduced productivity.
• Urban infrastructure: Cities like Chennai and Kolkata may see damage to roads, housing, and drainage systems.
• Resilience planning: Current coastal protection strategies may underestimate risks without factoring subsidence.

What Needs to Be Done

• Enhanced monitoring: Expand satellite-based land motion tracking across all coastal states.
• Urban planning: Integrate subsidence data into zoning, construction codes, and flood defenses.
• Community adaptation: Relocation or elevation of vulnerable settlements in high-risk zones.
• Policy action: Governments must update coastal resilience frameworks to include subsidence.
• Global relevance: India’s findings highlight the need for similar assessments worldwide.

To summarize, India’s coastal vulnerability is not just about rising seas—it’s also about sinking land. The URI-led study underscores the urgent need for integrated resilience planning to protect millions living along the country’s shores.

99.9% Dark Matter: Hubble Spots a Truly Bizarre Galaxy

A field of space with a dozen white foreground stars and a number of small, yellow background galaxies. [Image Credit: NASA, ESA, D. Li (Utoronto), Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)] 

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a galaxy, dubbed Candidate Dark Galaxy-2 (CDG-2), located about 300 million light-years away, that appears to be composed of at least 99.9% dark matter. This makes it one of the most extreme examples of a dark-matter-dominated galaxy ever observed.

Key Facts About CDG-2

At left, a field of space with a dozen white foreground stars and a number of small, yellow background galaxies. An unremarkable area at centre is outlined with a dashed circle surrounded by a white box. Lines extend from the box to a pullout at right containing faint, grainy white light surrounded by a circle labeled “Candidate dark galaxy – diffuse emission.” Four white dots are circled in blue and labeled globular clusters. [ Image Credit: NASA, ESA, D. Li (Utoronto), Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)] 

• Discovery Tool: Hubble Space Telescope
• Distance: ~300 million light-years from the Earth
• Composition: At least 99.9% dark matter, with vanishingly few visible stars
• Detection Method: Identified through the presence of four globular clusters orbiting an otherwise invisible mass
• Visibility: Nearly invisible in optical wavelengths

Why This Matters

• Dark Galaxies: CDG-2 is a strong candidate for the long-hypothesized class of “dark galaxies.”
• Cosmological Significance: Dark matter outweighs normal matter in the universe by about 5-to-1.
• Scientific Opportunity: Studying CDG-2 could help astronomers understand galaxy formation when star birth is suppressed.

Comparison: Typical Galaxy vs. CDG-2

Feature	Typical Spiral Galaxy (e.g., Milky Way)	CDG-2 (Candidate Dark Galaxy)
Dark Matter Fraction	~85–90%	~99.9%
Visible Stars	Hundreds of billions	Almost none (detected via clusters)
Detection Method	Direct observation of stars & gas	Indirect, via globular clusters
Brightness	High, easily visible	Extremely faint, nearly invisible

Challenges & Open Questions

• Verification: Further observations needed, possibly using radio telescopes or gravitational lensing.
• Formation Myst ery: Why did CDG-2 fail to form stars?
• Implications: More galaxies like CDG-2 could reshape our understanding of cosmic structure.

Takeaway

CDG-2 is one of the most compelling candidates yet for a “dark galaxy,” offering a rare glimpse into a realm where dark matter reigns almost completely unchecked. Its discovery underscores how much of the universe remains hidden and how vital tools like Hubble are in uncovering these cosmic mysteries.

IISc Unveils Quantum-Safe Crypto Chip Powering IoT Security

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have announced that they have developed the first compact, low-power quantum-safe crypto chip for IoT devices, using the SQIsign digital signature scheme. This breakthrough addresses the looming quantum threat while keeping energy consumption and hardware size suitable for constrained IoT systems.

Why This Matters

• Quantum threat: Future quantum computers could break widely used cryptographic systems like RSA and ECC.
• IoT vulnerability: Billions of IoT devices rely on lightweight cryptography, making them especially exposed.
• Quantum-safe solution: Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms like SQIsign are designed to resist quantum attacks.

Key Features of the IISc Chip

• Custom ASIC design: First hardware-accelerated implementation of SQIsign signatures.
• Low power consumption: Optimized for IoT devices with limited battery and processing capacity.
• Compact size: Suitable for embedding in sensors, wearables, and industrial IoT nodes.
• Efficient signature verification: Hardware acceleration reduces computational overhead compared to software-only PQC.

SQIsign Digital Signature Scheme

• Isogeny-based cryptography: Relies on mathematical structures resistant to quantum algorithms.
• Candidate for PQC standards: Being evaluated by global cryptographic bodies for standardization.
• Advantages: Smaller key sizes compared to lattice-based PQC, making it more efficient for constrained devices.

Comparison: Traditional vs Quantum-Safe IoT Security

Feature	Traditional Crypto (RSA/ECC)	Quantum-Safe (SQIsign ASIC)
Security vs Quantum	Vulnerable	Resistant
Key Size	Small	Moderate (but optimized)
Power Consumption	Low	Low (hardware-accelerated)
Suitability for IoT	High (today)	High (future-proof)
Standardization Status	Mature	Under evaluation

Challenges & Risks

• Standardization pending: PQC algorithms are still under review; widespread adoption will take time.
• Integration hurdles: IoT manufacturers must redesign hardware/software stacks to support PQC.
• Performance trade-offs: Even with hardware acceleration, PQC can be heavier than legacy crypto.

Outlook

• Near-term: Pilot deployments in IoT devices, especially in critical infrastructure and healthcare.
• Medium-term (5–10 years): Gradual replacement of RSA/ECC in IoT ecosystems.
• Long-term: Quantum-safe chips become standard in all connected devices.

TCS in Talks to Build AI Data Centres in India

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is in advanced discussions with multiple hyperscalers to establish AI-focused data centres in India reported Business Standard and CNBCTV18 citing CEO K. Krithivasan’s remarks. The CEO confirmed in London that TCS is in advanced discussions with multiple hyperscalers. The reports highlighted India’s projected need for 10 GW of AI data centre capacity by 2030.

This follows its recent partnership with OpenAI, and reflects TCS’s ambition to position India as a global hub for AI infrastructure.

Hyperscalers are large-scale cloud providers that deliver highly scalable computing infrastructure, allowing businesses to expand or shrink resources based on demand.

Key points emerging from TCS talks with Hyperscalers:  

• Capacity Goal: India may require up to 10 gigawatts of AI data centre capacity by 2030, a massive scale-up compared to current facilities.
• Hyperscaler Partnerships: While names haven’t been officially disclosed, hyperscalers typically refer to players like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud.
• Strategic Importance: These centres would support AI model training, enterprise adoption, and sovereign cloud initiatives, aligning with India’s digital transformation goals.
• Economic Impact: Such investments could accelerate job creation, energy innovation, and AI-driven industry growth across sectors like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.

This move signals that India is preparing not just to consume AI, but to host the infrastructure backbone for global AI development.