US roadshow to visit four Indian cities, focus on clean energy

Aimed at nurturing innovation in clean energy technologies in India, a US roadshow will visit four Indian cities next week, a statement said today.
The roadshow will visit New Delhi, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
A high-powered US delegation led by the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin and comprising of US energy and infrastructure companies will engage with government officials, civil society groups and entrepreneurs, the statement said.
"We're going to focus this trip on clean tech in particular with an emphasis within that on infrastructure," the Special US Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Zaid Haider told a group of Indian reporters in a media round table.

"We have an agreement on emissions, but at the same time now every country needs to do its part in the clean energy space, and so that's a key focus for us," said Haider who would be accompanying Rivkin to India for the "American Innovation Roadshow" from March 14.
Haider said the US is focused on this because the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focused on it.

"We all know the goals that Prime Minister Modi has laid out. We're talking about 175 gigawatts by 2022. We're talking about a deficit of about USD 100 billion in terms of financing to hit that goal," he said.

"We are talking about the fact that the Indian government has said that about 80 per cent of the infrastructure, energy infrastructure is yet to be put in place," Haider said.
"So this is a real opportunity for us as part of our partnership to help India as part of its urbanisation trend to develop a lower carbon urban infrastructure, and we want to be a part of that effort, intimately so," he added.
The US delegation among others comprises of representatives from 8-Minute Energy, a solar energy company based in Los Angeles; General Electrics, AES, a global power company with electricity generation and distribution business; First Solar, solar-focused customised energy solutions, applied materials; and Praxair, an industrial gases company.

Responding to a question, Haider said the US is looking forward to the release of draft national IP policy.
"We are working toward the high standards with India which will be important providing that regulatory certainty, investment certainty for US companies that want to do business in India in this manner," he said.
Noting there is no question that India is an extremely innovative entrepreneurship country, Haider opined that that there are certain things that could allow even greater potential to flourish.
"That goes back to these questions of investment for the regulatory - the investment certainty. So if foreign countries want to, for example, do R&D in India, it'll be important for them to have the kind of assurances that a high standard allows," he said.