US and India can form diverse partnerships, says US Consul General

Consulate General of the United States of America in Mumbai, Mike Hankey, on Friday said the US and India can forge "different types of partnerships", and noted that there are possibilities of cooperation in electric vehicle manufacturing and green energy sectors.

Talking to reporters in Goa during his visit to the state, he said the supply chain of lithium ion batteries required for electric vehicles (EVs) is reliant only on China, adding that no supply will be strong and resilient if it relies on a single point.

During his visit to the coastal state, Hankey met several stakeholders, including the industry experts under Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) initiative. He said that during the interaction (with industry experts), he was particularly impressed with what some of the electronics industry and green power industry firms are looking forward to doing. "I see some opportunities for collaboration between counterparts that are doing really advanced work on the US side and the Indian side in electronics manufacturing and in green energy manufacturing cutting edge solutions," he said. The US consul general said that they (industries) are helping us with a clean energy transition. "I think we are going to see some connections that we are going to make between those US and Indian companies working on exchange of technology, growing business connections in those fields," he added. Hankey said the US has experts who have been working on very similar issues. "I think, honestly, there's a two-way flow of information and expertise," he said. On his Goa visit, he said he was impressed with what he has seen in the state.

"In Goa and I think mutually, we can learn from the experience and as much as maybe Goans can learn from other experiences around the world," he said.

He said that the researchers and businesses are going to support each other because the connection between advanced research on the academic side between both the countries needs to be informed by businesses. "To give an example, when you take a look at electric vehicles right now they rely on current technology which is lithium ion technology," he said.

Technology does not just have physical chemical limitations, but also supply chain limitations, Hankey said. "The supply chain is reliant on one country, that is China and there is no supply chain that's going to be strong and resilient if it's reliant on a single point of failure," he observed. "So, what we are particularly trying to do is get businesses and researchers in the same room so that the business can, say five years from now, we need a technology that can deliver X Y Z and then suppliers of that research can solve that (failure) and will do it in a way they give us more than just one supplier coming out of China," he added. Hankey said that this can happen as the US has a series of national laboratories run by the department of energy.

"They are all interested and are in talks now with their counterparts on the Indian side, whether national laboratories or universities. We have already got Indian and US companies signed up to metaphorically and physically be in the room to inform this," he added. The US envoy further said there is a great opportunity in western India, especially given two-wheeler and three-wheeler industries that are present.

"...That's the beauty of both our countries...So diverse that we can make many different types of partnerships," he added.