India and Italy Will Partner for Green Hydrogen, Biofuel, Energy Storage

According to an official joint statement announced by the two countries, India and Italy will develop partnerships in key renewable energy sectors like green hydrogen, biofuels and energy storage. The decision came after India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio in New Delhi. The Italian foreign minister was on a three day visit to India.

The implementation of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership on Energy Transition – that was announced last year – was also discussed in the meeting. The official statement said, “In addition, they agreed to jointly organize an India-Italy Tech Summit on Energy Transition and Circular Economy, to be held in New Delhi on 17 November 2022.” The state said that Jaishankar and Di Maio also talked about the whole range of bilateral relations, including progress on the 2020-2024 ‘Action Plan,’ which was adopted in November 2020.

Di Maio wrote on twitter that his meeting with the Indian foreign minister was ‘very productive.’ S Jaishankar said that the meeting with Di Maio was warm and productive and the two noted their expanding cooperation in cyber security, science & technology and space sectors. “Agreed that increasing interest of Italian companies in @makeinindia & transfer of technology will further advance our bilateral relationship,” Jaishankar wrote on twitter.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz signed a joint declaration in Berlin according to which Germany has pledged €10 billion ($10.52 billion) support to India until 2030 to help the country meet its target of raising its non-fossil energy generation capacity to 500 GW.

In 2021, France had announced that it will support India in helping the South Asian country to achieve its renewable energy target of 500 GW by the end of this decade. Emmanuel Lenain, French envoy to India, said, “France will fully support India to achieve its ambitious target set by PM Modi at COP26 in Glasgow.”

The UK had also pledged similar support to India. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is also working with New India to ensure that India meets 175 GW of renewable energy targets by the end of this year (2022).