Describing the Indian Government’s agreement with Westinghouse Electric Company to build six nuclear reactors in Andhra Pradesh as a major milestone, the US Ambassador to India, Richard R Verma, today said the full contracts are expected to be finalised by the middle of next year.

Speaking at a conference on The Future is Now: India, From COP21 to Reality, the US Ambassador said, “The survey work has commenced, and we expect to see a full contract finalised by the middle of next year. This means the same AP1000 reactors currently under construction in South Carolina and Georgia will one day power Indian cities and villages.”

The US-India civil nuclear agreement, culminating over 10 years of tough negotiations, is the largest project of its kind in India. “It provides a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious target of diversifying India’s energy resources so that 40 per cent of all power is generated through renewable sources by 2030.”

“It moves India towards its goal of making reliable power available to all its citizens. It will bring jobs, good jobs, to both the US and India, thereby supporting the Make in India campaign, apart from bringing cutting-edge technologies to India’s power and construction sectors,” he said.

Speaking about the strengthening US–India relations over the years, the Ambassador said Prime Minister Modi and President Obama clearly recognise the grave threat posed by climate change, and the importance of the two countries working together to combat it.

Referring to the historic Paris agreement and its agenda to address Climate Change issues, he said the Prime Minister’s 175 giga watt (GW) target for renewable energy deployment is amongst the most ambitious in the world and the US has done a great deal to support this effort.

“Through the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy, or PACE, we have mobilised nearly $2.5 billion for clean energy projects in India. Another $1.4 billion in climate finance for solar projects was announced during the Prime Minister’s visit. Between now and 2035, investment in the global energy sector is expected to reach nearly $17 trillion. That is more than the entire GDP of China and India combined,” he said.

He said US and India are also working to skill up long-term capacity to deal with climate change.

The conference was organised through a partnership with the US-based NGO Institute for Sustainable Communities and the India-based Centre for Environmental Development, with funding and assistance from the US Department of State. The conference was designed to explore India’s key climate change issues and opportunities in light of India’s Paris commitments.

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