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U.S., India embrace over renewables

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama face the media at Hyderbad House in New Delhi on January 25, 2015. President Obama is on a three day visit and will be the guest of honor at at India’s Republic Day celebrations. UPI NEW DELHI, Jan. 26 (UPI) — Advancing a renewable energy sector in India is a shared priority for the New Delhi and U.S. governments, the Indian prime minister said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted President Barack Obama in New Delhi to discuss economic, energy and nuclear developments. Obama’s visit comes two weeks after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the signing of billions of dollars worth of clean energy investments in the Indian economy at a New Deli investment conference. "For President Obama and me, clean and renewable energy is a personal and national priority," the prime minister said in a statement […]

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Obama Ends Visit With Challenge to India on Climate Change

NEW DELHI — President Obama pressed India on Tuesday to do more to curb the pollution that is choking its capital and contributing to global climate change , as he wrapped up a visit that yielded no meaningful breakthrough on the issue. While India and the United States agreed to cooperate in promoting cleaner energy, Mr. Obama left after three days without the sort of specific commitment to curbing greenhouse gases that he won in China last year . Instead, he used a farewell speech before his departure to argue that India had an obligation to step up, despite its economic challenges. “I know the argument made by some — that it’s unfair for countries like the United States to ask developing nations and emerging economies like India to reduce your dependence on the same fossil fuels that helped power our growth for more than a century,” Mr. Obama […]

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India gets $4 billion solar energy promise

India gets $4 billion solar energy pledge on sidelines of major investment conference. UPI/Stephen Shaver AHMEDABAD, India, Jan. 12 (UPI) — With New Delhi praised for its renewable energy role, Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises said it signed a $4 billion solar agreement with a U.S. company. Adani signed a memorandum of understanding with solar energy services company SunEdison to produce enough solar panels to develop a sustainable green power sector in India. "India has embarked on an ambitious program to become a world leader in power generation from renewable technologies, and sees solar as a key part in realizing that goal," Vneet S Jaain, chief executive officer of subsidiary Adani Power Ltd., said in a statement Saturday. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of an Indian investment conference, attended by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry . From auto giant Ford Motor Co., to companies like SunEdison, the […]

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Coal India Strike Said to Shut Half of Output, Shipments

A strike by coal miners in India , the nation’s biggest walkout in four decades, shut down about half of monopoly Coal India Ltd.’s production and shipments yesterday, said two company officials, who asked not to be identified. The strike, by all of the company’s five major unions, entered its second day after talks between Coal Secretary Anil Swarup and the unions in New Delhi failed. The unions are protesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s plan to end the state’s monopoly fearing job losses and cuts in benefits. The strike will last for the planned five days as the government isn’t listening to worker concerns, said S.Q. Zama, general secretary at the Indian National Mineworkers Federation. “If this strike continues beyond a couple of days, the situation with respect to coal stock would become critical,” said Debasish Mishra, a senior director at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt.’s energy practice […]

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India’s Nov crude oil imports jump 17.3% on year to 4.2 mil b/d

Singapore (Platts)–15Dec2014/338 am EST/838 GMT India imported 17.25 million mt, or an average 4.21 million b/d, of crude oil in November, up 17.3% year on year, latest data obtained by shipping sources showed. The November crude imports were up 14.9% from October. India imported 1.46 million mt, or an average 356,726 b/d, of crude oil from Iran in the month under review, up 23.7% year on year. Saudi Arabia was India’s top crude oil supplier in November at 4.57 million mt. Article continues below… Platts Global Alert is a complete real-time information service for the global energy industry, providing breaking reports of deals done, price indicators for crude and products and more than 200 end-of-day assessments. The volume was up 55% year on year and also up 79.2% from October. Imports from Venezuela, the UAE and Iraq surged in November, but from Nigeria, Kuwait and Angola dropped. Imports from […]

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Russia sees promise in energy ties with India

Russian President Vladimir Putin sees promise in expanding energy ties with the expanding Indian economy. (UPI Photo/Anatoli Zhdanov) Bilateral efforts to expand cooperation in the oil and gas sector between Russia and India hold "great promise," the Kremlin said Thursday. "We are paving the way for long-term, true and mutually beneficial cooperation," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a state visit to New Delhi. Russia is examining its energy options as Western sanctions take their toll on its economy. In July, Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin told Indian business newspaper The Hindu the Kremlin was interested in spending as much as $40 billion to build a natural gas pipeline for India. The pipeline would run along the southern border of Russian to India through the Himalayan region or mirror the route of the planned pipeline from Turkmenistan. India’s economy is expected to expand by 5.8 percent next year, […]

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Modi Window to Revamp India Economy Never Wider as Oil Dips

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is serious about overhauling India ’s economy, 2015 presents a golden opportunity. Oil prices have fallen to a five-year low, inflation is easing, the current account deficit has narrowed and investors are betting the U.S. Federal Reserve won’t raise rates until June. Only two of India’s 29 states will hold an election next year, and Modi holds a majority in the lower house for the first time in three decades after his landslide election win in May. “Very rarely do you see something like this,” Saugata Bhattacharya, a Mumbai-based economist at Axis Bank Ltd., said in an interview last week. “What more can they possibly want?” India’s growth prospects are rising as other emerging markets including China slow down, making its benchmark stock index among the best performers this year. Modi’s ability to raise living standards among India’s 1.2 billion people hinges on engineering […]

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The Next Big Climate Question: Will India Follow China?

Michael Greenstone For more than 20 years, international climate talks have been dominated by a schism between those who created the problem of climate change (largely the United States and nations of the European Union) and those who would greatly contribute to it moving forward (largely China and India). But as climate negotiators meet in Lima, Peru, this week and next, and news reports are full of gloomy predictions that the negotiations will produce little, there are increasing signs that this stalemate may have been broken. This emerging shift is due in large part to China and its decision to break ranks and join the United States in making commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One critical question now is whether India — the country that has stood by China’s side in climate talks and is now the world’s third-largest emitter — will follow suit in a meaningful way […]

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Cheap Electricity for Poor Squeezing Out Solar in India

Print Back to story The villagers of Dharnai in northern India had been living without electricity for more than 30 years when Greenpeace installed a microgrid to supply reliable, low-cost solar power. Then, within weeks of the lights flickering on in Dharnai’s mud huts, the government utility hooked up the grid — flooding the community with cheap power that undercut the fledgling solar network. While Greenpeace had come to Dharnai at Bihar’s invitation, the unannounced arrival of the state’s utility threatened to put it out of business. “We wanted to set this up as a business model,” said Abhishek Pratap, a Greenpeace campaigner overseeing the project. “Now we’re in course correction.” It’s a scenario playing out at dozens of ventures across India’s hinterlands. Competition from state utilities, with their erratic yet unbeatably cheap subsidized power, is scuppering efforts to supply clean, modern energy in a country where more people […]

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