Hindustan Times | Hardeep Puri to co-chair US-India strategic clean energy partnership dialogue

Oct 06,2022

Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri will co-chair the ministerial dialogue of US-India strategic clean energy partnership (USISCEP) on October 7 with US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm in Washington DC, the government said in a statement.

Puri will also lead an official and business delegation to Washington DC and Houston from October 6-11, it added.

The revamped USISCEP was launched in 2021 in accordance with the US-India climate and clean energy agenda 2030 partnership announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden at a summit in April 2021.

At the leaders’ summit on climate in April 2021, PM Modi and President Biden announced a high-level US-India climate and clean energy agenda 2030 partnership to accelerate progress toward shared climate and clean energy goals, according to the US energy department.

“The Agenda 2030 Partnership includes two tracks of engagement: 1) the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP), and 2) the Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue. The US-India SCEP builds upon a longstanding bilateral energy dialogue focused on energy security and innovation. The revitalized SCEP will continue to advance energy security and innovation with greater emphasis on electrification and decarbonization of processes and end uses; scaling up emerging clean energy technologies; finding solutions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors; and deploying technical solutions,” it said.

Engagement with the private sector and other stakeholders remains a priority to facilitate rapid technology deployment and create economic opportunities for both countries, it added.

The partnership continues to advance energy security and innovation; scaling up emerging clean energy technologies; and deploying technical solutions through five pillars, the petroleum ministry said in a statement. The five pillars are — responsible oil and gas pillar, power and energy efficiency pillar, renewable energy pillar, sustainable growth pillar and emerging fuels and technologies.

Puri will also interact with World Bank officials on climate resilient urban infrastructure, said the statement. “He will also participate in two executive roundtables with USA India Business Council in Washington D.C. and with USA India Strategic Partnership Forum in Houston,” it said, adding that the minister will also hold discussions with CEOs of US-based energy companies.