Policy Dialogue in Energy
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chancellor Angela Merkel set up the Indo-German Energy Forum – a bilateral dialogue on energy – in 2006. It not only recognises the crucial role energy plays for the two countries, but also the potential for cooperation, be it in efficient thermal power generation or renewable energies.
The Forum meets yearly at the secretary level, led by India´s Ministry of Power and Germany´s Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The most recent meeting took place in New Delhi in November 2010, with the next meeting planned for late 2011 in Germany.
There are several working groups under the Forum – modernisation of thermal power stations, renewable energies, energy efficiency and carbon trading, as well as on coal. For this reason, several other relevant ministries are also involved, such as Germany´s Federal Ministry of Environment (BMU – in charge of renewables) and India´s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Industry participation is encourages in order to include the views of the corporate sector in the deliberations.
A Forum secretariat is under preparation to provide additional expert inputs, as well as logistic support. An additional working group on energy research is also planned for 2011. It is to be led by India´s Department for Science and Technology and Germany´s Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).
