India and UK to join hands for clean energy R&D centre on solar energy

As a part of their commitment to the Solar Alliance, India and UK will join hands to establish India-UK networked Centre on Solar Energy.

While speaking at the India-UK Tech Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We have agreed to establish India-UK Clean Energy R&D Centre on solar energy with joint investment of 10 million pounds.”

The research and development center will be linked to India’s renewable energy mission and UK’s Supergens Programme. The research institute will be focusing on systems level design and development covering solar energy generation.

According to government release, “India would be investing Rs.50 crores over a period of five years with matching contribution from Research Council UK (RCUK) under the Newton-Bhabha Programme.”

The Indian prime minister while speaking at the event also highlighted the importance of ‘Make in India’ in the bilateral engagement.

“The ‘Smart City’ mission aims to integrate digital technology into our rapidly urbanizing environment. I am glad that there is already a high level of interest from the UK in projects in Pune, Amaravati and Indore,” Modi added further.

The Indian head of the state encouraged further participation from UK companies in smart city projects and added that “UK companies have already signed deals worth 9 billion pounds”.

Source: ET