India playing global role in advancing energy transition: US-India Business Council

Agencies | Washington                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The US-India Business Council (USIBC) led a high-powered business delegation to the second edition of India Energy Week 2024 in Goa and appreciated India’s ‘global role’ in advancing energy transition for the world.

The USIBC delegation led by Ambassador Atul Keshap held a meeting with Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tarun Kapoor, and Director of Energy Markets and Security at the International Energy Agency, Keisuke Sadamori.

The delegation attended the opening ceremony, where PM Modi shared with the delegates that India’s energy demand is expected to double by 2045 and the expected enhanced role of natural gas from 6 per cent to 15 per cent in India’s energy mix.

“In addition to being a critical leader of India’s energy transformation and security, Hardeep Singh Puri’s championing of the India Energy Week highlights the ‘global role’ India is playing in advancing energy transition for the world,” USIBC said in a statement.

Notably, Puri also co-chairs the US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership with US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. The roundtable was also joined by Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain, during which the leaders explored potential areas of collaboration in oil and gas, the Global Alliance on Biofuels, and critical technologies like hydrogen, new fuels, energy storage, nuclear power, and Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS), the statement added.

On the sidelines of India Energy Week, USIBC and GE Vernova also hosted Tarun Kapoor, advisor to PM Modi, and Keisuke Sadamori, Director of Energy Markets and Security at the International Energy Agency (IEA) for a discussion on the global landscape on energy transition and security.

USIBC President Atul Keshap congratulated the Indian government and Petroleum and Natural Gas ministry for the ‘successful’ round of the India Energy Week “IEW 2024 reinforces India’s ability to bring together international partners on critical issues around energy transition, critical and emerging technologies across the energy value chain, and ensuring a sustainable and secure energy future for the world and for the people of India.

USIBC members are ready to collaborate on state-of-the-art projects and foster innovation that can help catalyze energy transition in India, the US, and around the world,” he said.

“The US-India energy corridor is diverse, strong and ambitious and represents tremendous opportunities for public and private sector partnerships between the two countries,” Keshap added. Shilpa Gupta, Chief Technology Officer, India, GE Vernova, said that it is critical for India to lay a solid foundation for its energy transition journey by promoting and adopting innovation-led technological advancements.

“It will help the country establish a sustainable energy mix in future. Upcoming technologies such as using green hydrogen with natural gas for power generation, BESS, Wind-Solar plus baseload power plants and others are being explored at various levels currently and we are confident that with the growing US-India collaboration on energy, GE Vernova can play a key role in contributing towards decarbonization of India’s power sector while building robust electrification systems,” she said “USIBC and its members are committed to strengthening the U.S.-India energy partnerships, foster innovation of critical technologies that enable a secure energy future and smooth energy transition,” the USIBC statement further added.