The Hindu : Business : India, EU to set up working group on hydrocarbons

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 08, 2006

Business

Business

India, EU to set up working group on hydrocarbons

Special Correspondent

EU Energy Commissioner calls for `a lot of investment' in nuclear fusion

NEW DELHI: India and the European Union (EU) plan to set up a working group on cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector under the ambit of the India-EU Energy Panel, as part of measures to intensify bilateral cooperation in energy.

"The second meeting of the Panel reviewed the functioning of three working groups that were set up last year...a fourth group would be set up for development of hydrocarbon markets," the EU Energy Commissioner, Andris Pielbalgs, told newspersons at a press conference here on Friday.

Asked what would be the EU stand on nuclear cooperation with India, Mr. Pielbalgs said Europe was following with interest the debate in the U.S. Congress over the India-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement and stressed that the basic issue of non-proliferation should be addressed. "Some member states have a lot of interest in India's nuclear programmes while some others are not very interested," he said.

Mr. Pielbalgs noted that nuclear fusion was the right kind of fuel for the future in the wake of rising petroleum prices in the global markets and called for "lot of investment" in that field. "We should be extremely ambitious about nuclear fusion," he said.

At the same time, Mr. Pielbalgs said coal would continue to be the major fuel till "we get a sustainable answer to our energy security". "Coal has an important potential for supplying energy resources. But lot of research and development is necessary in the coal sector so that the disadvantage in the form of CO2 emissions are countered," he said.

At the meeting of the India-EU energy panel on Friday, recommendations of the three working groups, which were set up at the first meeting of the panel in Brussels in June 2005, came up for discussion. The issues mainly pertained to energy security, promotion of renewable energy sources and energy efficient technologies. Mr. Piebalgs, who participated in the India-EU business conference on energy on Thursday, met the Union Petroleum Minister, Murli Deora, Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail