India has sought Israel's expertisein renewable energy sector to meet its ambitious target of30,000 megawatts of power in the next five years.
"India is a very vast country and like all vast countrieshas very vast problems. Energy is one of the most crucialissues which we feel can do wonders to our growth. When youlook at the fact that 40 per cent of the population in Indiadoesn't have access to energy, we think it is a situation weneed to immediately correct," said Gireesh Pradhan, theSecretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Quoting from one of the recent statements made by PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh in setting up the goal of providingaccess to energy to all at the earliest, Pradhan said, "I lookup at renewable energy as of great importance".
"We feel that the rapid spread and promotion of renewableenergy would address to some extent the issue of access. TheGovernment of India has identified generation of power throughrenewable energy at the forefront of its planning strategy,"Pradhan, who is on a two-day visit to Israel, told animpressive gathering of business leaders at the Federation ofIsraeli Chambers of Commerce.
He also noted the fact that India is the only country inthe world that has a full-fledged ministry devoted torenewable energy headed by a cabinet minister while most ofthe countries only have a department for renewables embeddedin their conventional power sector.
Sharing some of the broad contours of the energy scenarioin India, Pradhan highlighted the fact that almost 12 per centof the energy generated in India comes from renewable sourcescomprising small hydro, bio-mass, wind and a little bit ofsolar.
If the share of electricity produced from large Hydro isincluded in this then the total share of renewables in theoverall energy mix will come to about 31 per cent, hestressed.
Calling upon Israeli business leaders to join hands in thegrowth of renewable energy sector in India, the seniorofficial said India has set up an ambitious plan to generateanother 30,000 MWs of grid connected projects by 2017, whichwill "take us to a total of 55,000 MWs from renewable sourcesof energy".
"This would require a lot of partnering and assistance andhelp from the private sector. The important difference inIndia in terms of conventional power and renewable power isthat on the conventional side the lead player is thegovernment or the public sector whereas on the renewable sideit is completely private sector.
We owe the 25,000 we have completely to the private sectorand we intend to push this further in the next five years topromote investments from the private sector," Pradhanstressed.
"In that context we look at partnering with countries such as Israel. Israel is special because of its ability toinnovate under very trying circumstances. Something that isvery well proven in Israel. The constraints your country hasfaced and the ability to deal with those constraints throughout of the box innovative solutions is well known," he noted.
"Those solutions will find very good application in acountry like India, which is vast and has diversemeteorological conditions, has scarcity in terms of resourceslike water, etc, and also on the other hand blessed with verymany natural resources," the secretary added.
The announcement by the Indian officials regardingJawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) Phase II waswelcomed by those gathered in the hall with excitement withseveral showing interest in participating in the process.
Ashwini Kumar, scientist at MNRE, in a presentation toldthe Israeli business leaders that India will add 10,000 MWs ofsolar capacity in the next phase of JNNSM by 2017.
"The Sun shines for more than 310 days a year in India. Wealso have vast tracts of land available in some big statesthat cannot be used for any other productive use.
Collaboration with Israel will definitely be helpful inmeeting our immediate goal of providing access to energy toall and at the same time laying a solid foundation for thefuture," Pradhan said.
Representatives of many leading renewable companies inIsrael enquired about various government of India initiativesduring a round table conference.
Vani Rao, Charge de Affaires, at the Indian mission in TelAviv assured of all assistance in helping Israeli businesseslooking to participate in the Indian renewable energy sector.
"We are celebrating 20 years of diplomatic relationsbetween India and Israel. Among many areas of collaborationthat we have identified, renewable happens to be one. InSecretary MNRE we have the highest official from thegovernment present here to give you a perspective on thedevelopments in India in this sector," she said.
Representatives from Israel's Ministry of Trade andIndustry also expressed interest in "deepening trade ties withIndia" while the Free Trade Agreement between the twocountries is being worked out.
Yifat Inbar, Director, China-India Division at theMinistry noted Israel was able to survive the global recessionbecause it strengthened its engagement with Asia, and inparticular with India.
She also mentioned about financial assistance beingprovided by the Israeli government to deepen trade ties withIndia.
The three member Indian team, also including Sanjay Sethfrom the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, had several interactionswith Israeli officials and business leaders in the renewableenergy sector for an overview on developments in the countryin this sector.