India, China agree on closer cooperation in energy

India and China have agreed to cooperate in the energy sector, including on sourcing energy from international markets, the Indian government said on Thursday.

Releasing the minutes of the 4th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue last week, an official statement here said the two sides called "for a joint strategy to meet the rising energy demand through appropriate policy measures and efforts in the international energy markets."

The Indian side at the dialogue was led by Vice-Chairman of National Institution for Transforming India Arvind Panagariya, and the Chinese side was led by Xu Shaoshi, Chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

On renewable energy, both sides agreed to speed up solar module manufacturing in India and expand cooperation in promoting solar rooftop systems

"India offered huge investment opportunities in the renewable energy sector by way of participating through equity support, offsetting hedging cost, taking up of masala bonds, partnering in the solar projects, among others," the statement said.

"Chinese investors showed keen interest in financial investment and participation in large solar park projects in cooperation with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)," it added.

The two countries also "agreed to push forward the feasibility study on Delhi-Nagpurhigh-speed railway and construction of Delhi-Chennai high-speed railway," it said.

They also agreed on closer cooperation on coastal manufacturing zone development by encouraging projects in areas like infrastructure, automobile, energy and electronics in next one year, it added.

--IANS

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