New Delhi: The US-India CEO Forum has recommended the setting up of a $1 billion venture capital fund for clean energy projects focusing on bio-fuels, solar and bio-mass as part of the larger goal of ensuring energy security of the two countries.
The suggestion was made jointly by the two co-chairs of the Forum, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata and Honeywell Corp Chairman and Chief Executive David Cote, coinciding with the visit of US President Barack Obama to India.
"Key issues for both countries centre on high dependence on imported hydrocarbons, and inadequate incentives for clean energy. The opportunity is in synergizing R&D (research and development) capabiliites and funding for clean energy and in enhancing energy efficiency," Tata and Cote said in their note.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier told the Forum that a high-level committee under Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had been set up to look into the recommendations.
The Forum's other recommendations on the area of clean energy include:
- Removal of road blocks by India on commercial nuclear trade
- Conclude the recently finalised bilateral reprocessing agreement
- Finalise projects under India's national solar mission
- Double capacity of solar energy in India to 2,000 MW soon
- Promote production of bio-fuels from jatropha and pongamia
- Expand use of bio-mass from forestry and agriculture
- Adopt national energy management standards to improve efficiency.