India, US to step up efforts to mobilise clean energy funds

India and the US today emphasised on the need to enhance access to both public and private funding for the development of clean energy.
Both sides underscored the vital "importance of expanding access to public and private financing for clean energy development in order to enhance energy access and sustainable development", a joint statement on the Second India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue said.
"The sides recognised their collective efforts to advance the US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) initiative, the US-India Clean Energy Hub, the expansion of USAID programme for Utility-level support and the US-India Catalytic Solar Finance Program, which will collectively mobilise public and private capital towards clean energy solutions," it added.

On the progress of the US-India Clean Energy Finance Task Force, India and the US announced their intent to expand the Task Force's work to include new clean energy finance initiatives for joint collaboration.
Besides, both the countries reiterated their commitment to doubling their clean energy R&D investment towards fulfillment of the objectives of Mission Innovation, resolved to increased cooperation between national labs and announced the creation of the PACE Fellowship, the statement said.
The US also affirmed support for pursuing its membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), recognising the critical role it can play in the development and deployment of solar power.

The countries applauded continued engagement between Westinghouse and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India toward finalising the contractual arrangements by June 2017 to build six AP 1,000 mw reactors that will provide clean, reliable energy to millions of people in India, it said.

"They also looked forward to the immediate commencement of work on engineering and site design and early conclusion of a competitive financing package based on the joint work by India and the US Export-Import Bank," it added.
The sides resolved to work towards the early finalisation of the MoU between Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) of India and Bureau of Oceans Energy Management (BOEM) of the US for cooperation in the field of unconventional hydrocarbon research.

"They resolved to work for early finalisation of the proposed MOU between NTPC and National Energy Technology Laboratory of the US for cooperation in the field of Fossil Energy Technologies," it added.
Recognizing the US-India Joint Clean Energy R&D Center initiatives for technological innovation in clean energy, the countries appreciated the expansion of the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research (PACE-R) through a fourth track on smart grid and energy storage technologies.
The Sides also noted the progress under the "Greening the Grid" initiative and collaboration for training of Indian professionals in the area of large scale integration of renewable energy into the Indian grid, it added.