India joins global body to tap renewable energies
Friday, 30 January 2009, 00:04 IST
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New Delhi: India will join the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a world body that acts as the global voice for renewable energies to help accelerate their development and deployment. A cabinet meeting chaired by Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee Thursday decided that India will forge partnerships with other member countries at the multilateral level for cooperation in technology transfer and joint research of renewable energy technologies. Mandated by governments worldwide, IRENA aims at becoming the main driving force in promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale. The agency facilitates access to all relevant information including reliable data on the potential of renewable energy, best practices, effective financial mechanisms and state-of-the-art technological expertise. "Keeping in view IRENA's objectives and that it would be the only global inter-governmental body dedicated to renewables, India actively engaged in the consultation process and decided to join it as a founding member," said an official statement. The government will contribute $112,500 in the first year to this body that is akin to other multilateral organisations like the UN.
Source: IANS
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