Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal presided over a bilateral meeting with the Japanese delegation led by H.E. Mr. Hiroshige Seko, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Government of Japan. The meeting took place on the side-lines of the 7th India-Japan Energy Forum, 2017 being held in New Delhi today.
During the day long sessions in the Energy Forum, there would be technical discussion sessions on critical subjects of mutual cooperation in the energy sector, which include Enhancing Renewable Energy and Grid Stability, Promoting Technological Cooperation in Energy Efficiency in Industrial and Commercial Sectors and Technological Options and Energy Efficiency Improvement in Transport Sector.
Speaking on the scope of India-Japan cooperation, Shri Goyal said that this forum is a platform to engage with Japan for mutual benefit in the energy sector by working towards bringing Japanese strengths in cutting edge engineering and technology to India. This would help India in enhancing Grid stability, bringing Electric Mobility at affordable prices to the country etc., which the Government is vigorously pursuing, he added.
The Minister also informed that during the bilateral meet with his Japanese counterpart, it was put across that India’s power demand is going to expand four fold in the next 15 years to become one of the largest energy markets globally and it would open immense business opportunities for Japan in the sector in India, hence making this bilateral engagement mutually beneficial for both countries.
Shri Goyal also said that India and Japan should cooperate on long term contracts for LNG with a defined cost of energy which would provide a stabilizing factor for the Renewable Energy thrust that India is currently giving. India being a price sensitive market cannot afford costly power and hence needs Japanese cooperation in maintaining a balance between renewable energy and conventional coal based power.
Further, Shri Goyal said that since large number of items in the Renewable energy sector come from abroad, we are working to create a sustainable framework for encouraging the manufacturing of solar equipments in India at less costs so as to make 24x7 Affordable and Quality power available to each citizen in India. This will also give a fillip to the Make in India mission by scaling up manufacturing sector in India with the help of cutting edge Japanese technologies in the power sector. India should leap frog the learning curve with the help of contemporary next generation technologies and should not miss out on the opportunities to provide sustainable energy future to every citizen, based on their needs, he added.
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