WASHINGTON: The US-India Business Council (USIBC) has launched a new initiative to promote bilateral trade and investment in the burgeoning solar power sector by setting up a task force for robust cooperation between American and Indian firms.
American companies are looking to export leading solar power technologies, while furthering India’s goal of attaining energy security by reducing its dependence on imported coal and fossil fuels, USIBC said.
The task force proposes to support the efforts of the US and Indian governments “to accelerate utilityscale solar deployment”. It will be co-charied by Bryan Ashley, Chief Marketing Officer of Suniva, and Aparna Doshi, Chief Operating Officer of Astonfield — representing between them two leading players in solar energy.
USIBC President Ron Somers said the task force would also strive to promote “an enabling environment that will spur the application of efficient, clean solar-powered energy throughout India and the globe”.
India and the US signed a memorandum of understanding last November on Energy Security, Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy and Climate Change to intensify cooperation in energy efficiency and “green” power development.
While lauding India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, targeted to achieve 20,000 MW of new solar power generation by 2022, USIBC stressed that New Delhi should ensure that the solar policy, associated regulatory mechanisms and contracting relationships are commercially viable and embraced by the private sector and financial community.
It said the task force will support India’s solar mission by sharing the best regulatory and policy practices with New Delhi and the different states to develop commercially viable solar power plants.