Indian and UK Science Ministers Discuss Green Energy Collaboration

India's Science & Technology Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh held an online meeting with the United Kingdom Science Minister, George Freeman, wherein the two discussed Green Energy collaboration between the two countries among other issues.

The India-UK Science & Technology (S&T) collaboration has been growing at a rapid pace and the joint research programme has gone from an almost zero base to close to 300-400 million pounds now, the Indian Minister informed his British counterpart and that the UK has emerged as India's second largest international research and innovation partner.

Dwelling on the issue of India's net zero journey, Singh said that energy efficiency and renewable energy are central pillars, where India has already taken lead by various initiatives like India Solar Alliance, Clean Energy Mission etc., a release from the Ministry of Science & Technology said.

Calling for a greater India-UK collaboration in clean and green energy areas, he said that four technology value chains contribute about half of the cumulative CO2 savings: technologies to widely electrify end-use sectors (such as advanced batteries), carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), hydrogen and hydrogen-related fuels, and bioenergy.

He pointed out that the Newton Bhabha MoU provided an opportunity to take India UK S&T cooperation to the next level in various research areas, for example energy security, food and agriculture, water, health, climate change, environmental studies as well as social and cultural changes that are taking place in India.

Singh said that India will join G20 troika in few days from December 1 this year, will hold the G20 presidency from December next year, and plans to convene the G20 leaders' summit in 2023 for the first time.

"The S20 group (Science track of G-20) has the most important responsibility to engage with all stake holders in the spirit of collective foresight and develop science-based solutions to counter the multitude of challenges faced by the humanity," he said.

The India-UK S & T partnership covers all aspect of research and innovation from discovery to development to translation which is required for our nations to rise to new heights together, he said.

There is great need to enhance industry-led collaborations or industry participation both at the national as well as international levels to ensure application oriented technologies for solving societal needs and spur innovation, Singh said, as per the release.