The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is scheduled to inaugurate a global, Ministerial level, ‘International Seminar on Energy Access’ that is to be held in New Delhi on October 9 and 10.
The seminar is expected to have the participation of more than 50 ministers and senior government officials from different countries, UN bodies and non- governmental organisations.
The conference is being organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and supported by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
This is the fifth in a series of conferences of this nature to be organised by the Ministry. The previous one was held between October 27 and 29, 2010, and, according to the Ministry, was attended by over 13,700 people, from some 65 countries. However, this year’s seminar has another context — the United Nations General Assembly has designated 2012 as the ‘International Year of Sustainable Energy for All’.
The organisers have fixed a fee of Rs 5,000 or $150 per delegate, but this is only for companies and business institutions. For all others, such as those from governments and research organisation, participation is free.
The seminar will discuss topics such as ‘policy and regulation for meeting target of ‘Energy for All’, financing energy access, solar power for energy access, biomass for energy access, storage of renewable energy, use of local energy sources for energy access in rural areas, business models for standalone grids, barriers to energy access and role of NGOs in energy access.