Japan will help India, the world's third-biggest consumer of coal, build cleaner and more energy- efficient power plants to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
Japanese Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai and India's Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia signed an accord in Tokyo today, after the third round of the so-called Japan-India Energy Dialogue launched last year aimed at boosting the use of clean-energy technologies in South Asia.
India is utilizing more renewable fuels to cut emission of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. Under the accord, Japan will help India upgrade outmoded coal power plants, increase the use of more efficient generators and train local engineers on clean-coal technologies, according to a joint statement.
“The two ministers will promote technologies-transfer efforts to help reduce the ash content of coal used in India, including the implementation of a commercial-scale mode project for high-efficiency coal preparation,'' the statement said.
Japan and India were the world's fourth and fifth-largest emitters of carbon dioxide in 2005 after the U.S., China and Russia, according to the International Energy Agency. Japan is also seeking to boost private-sector investment in India's infrastructure including power plants, railroads and expressways.
Coal is used by power stations, cement companies and steelmakers in India, a nation of 1.1 billion people. The government estimates the country will import 60 million metric tons of the fuel annually by 2012.
Nikai and Ahluwalia also agreed the two nations will start a renewable-energy research program with the aim of developing alternative fuel sources such as solar power, the statement said. Boosting electricity generation is vital for India, Asia's third-biggest economy, to sustain economic growth of about 8 percent annually.
The agreement between Nikai and Ahluwalia followed an accord reached earlier today by The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and a New Delhi-based think-tank to cooperate in tackling climate change.
The fourth round of the energy dialogue between the two countries is due to be held in New Delhi next year.
