Govt nod for ratifying International Solar Alliance Agreement

Government today gave ex post facto approval to the proposal of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy for ratification of the International Solar Alliance's (ISA) Framework Agreement by India.

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its ex post facto approval to the proposal of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) for ratification of ISA's Framework Agreement by India," the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in a statement.

ISA was launched jointly by the Indian Prime Minister and the France President on November 30 last year in Paris on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP) meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the ministry said.

The ISA will strive to bring together more than 121 solar resource rich nations for coordinated research, low-cost financing and rapid deployment.

The foundation stone of the ISA Headquarters was laid at Gwal Pahari, Guragaon in Haryana. India has already committed the required support of operationalisation of ISA.

ISA will put India globally in a leadership role in climate and renewable energy issues. It will also give a platform to showcase its solar programmes.

The agreement was opened for signature on the sidelines of 22nd CoP meeting at Marrakesh, Morocco. The agreement invokes the Paris Declaration on ISA and encapsulates the vision of the prospective member nations.

The United Nations Development Programme and World Bank have already announced their partnership with the ISA. Till now, 25 nations have signed the Framework Agreement.