INDIA– U.S. ENERGY DIALOGUE - FACT SHEET 

New Delhi
March 2, 2006

The India-U.S. Energy Dialogue, launched on May 31, 2005, is aimed at increased India-U.S. trade and investment in the Indian energy sector by working with the public and private sectors to further identify areas of cooperation and collaboration and build on the broad range of existing cooperation between India and the United States to mobilize secure, clean. reliable and affordable sources of energy, focusing on (i) oil and natural gas (ii) coal (iii) power and energy efficiency, and (iv) new technologies and renewable Energy and (v) civil nuclear energy. Short and longer-term work plans have been formulated and several bilateral Agreements are ready to be signed or under finalisation below:
(1) FutureGen Project : India has accepted the U.S. government’s invitation to participate in the Future Gen project, an initiative to build the world's first integrated sequestration and hydrogen production research power plant. FutureGen, a billion dollar project to which India is contributing $10M and the U.S. government and industry are responsible for funding the balance. The $1 billion dollar U.S. initiative to which the USA will contribute $700 million and India $10 million, will create the world's first zero-emissions fossil fuel plant, drawing upon the best scientific talent to pursue an innovative 'showcase' project focused on the design, construction and operation of a technically cutting-edge power plant. Indian companies are also expected to participate in the private sector segment. 

(2) India has sought membership in the Integrated Ocean Development Program (IODP), an international drilling programme for scientific deep-sea research led by Japan and the USA which aims to study, inter alia, the unknown deep biosphere by studying core samples and monitoring boreholes, an important first step towards harnessing gas hydrates as a source of energy. The National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) has identified specific areas in Indian deep-sea waters for conducting further geo-scientific surveys/studies. It is believed that commercial exploitation of gas hydrates may start sometime in the period 2015-2020. 

(3) International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor (ITER): ITER is a multi-billion dollar international project that seeks to make use of fusion energy for electricity production a reality. The main ITER facility will be built in Cadarache, France, and all ITER partners will participate in its construction, research and development. Pursuant to the nuclear understanding of July 18, 2005, the USA supported India’s membership of the International Thermonuclear Energy Initiative (in ITER). India was invited on December 6, 2005 to join the initiative as a full partner by the USA, and its other ITER partners - the European Union, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and China - at the ITER negotiations meeting in Jeju, South Korea. India will join the international team that will work on this project. 
(4) In the area of Oil and Natural Gas, it has been decided 
•to hold a Natural Gas Conference - with focus on /Coal-Bed Methane in New Delhi in April /early May 2006, • to hold a Natural Gas Conference in New Delhi-in early May 2006, with focus on , gas infrastructure development and operations, LNG and non-conventional gas, including coalbed methane, and gas sector regulation
• MOU’s are ready on (i) offshore drilling for gas hydrates and (ii) safety, standards, codes of practice and procedures 
• Dialogue continues on a proposed MOU between IOC and the U.S. National renewable Energy Laboratory on hydrogen. 
• Possible co-operation is being discussed is envisaged in treatment of (i) residues from refineries and production and (ii) storage, safety regulation of hydrocarbons. 

• USTDA is funding an Oil and Gas Refinery Orientation Visit for nine representatives from the Indian public and private sectors to visit the U.S. in late summer 2006 to provide an introduction to U.S. expertise and equipment in downstream oil and gas manufacturing, and introduce small and medium size U.S, companies to opportunities in India
India and the USA have just signed an MOU on exchange of Information between India and US relating to the Hydrocarbon sector 

(5) A High-level Work Plan on Coal has been prepared which provides for exchange of visits by experts – starting with
• a series of on-site studies, workshops and conferences on (i) coal liquefaction/beneficiation/waste coal utilization, fine coal recovery (ii) Coal Bed Methane/Coal Mine Methane resources estimation and block delineation (iii) underground in-situ coal gasification, (iii) reclamation of opencast mines and studies for prevention of overburden dump failures, (iv) exploitation of reserves of steeply dipping coal seams in north eastern coalfields, (v) mine safety – practices, training and regulatory regime., (vi) preparation of model mine with state of art technology and an integrated power plant adopting Fluidised uelised Bed Coal Combustionpressor/Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle technology with minimal emissions and carbon sequestration.
• Coal related information relevant to coal technologists, US coal industry partners and investors has been shared with the US side. 
• A Business Advisory Council will be established by March 31, 2006
• U.S. members of the India-U.S. Coal Working Advisory Group visited in January this year and agreed to have several workshops in 2006. 
U.S. experts in coal preparation and coal liquefaction will visit India in March 2006 to discuss pilot projects with Indian coal companies. India will host the 3rd Working Group Meeting in New Delhi in the first week of April 2006 which will focus on (i) Coal reserve exploitation, (ii) washing of high ash coal, (iii) development of expertise for estimation of reserves of coal bed methane, (iv) exploitation of coal locked up due to underground fires, and (v) development of a new technology showcase project of 250-270 MW. 

• A three3-day meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum also would be held in early April 2006.follow this. 
• India and US are also finalizing an Agreement for the setting up an information center, the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and Coal-mine Methane (CMM) ‘clearing house’ in India with joint funding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and U.S. Trade Development Agency (USTDA) and Government of India’s Ministry of Coal. 
• An Agreement on USTDA funding of a feasibility study of alternate mining technology for Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) is also under finalization. 
(6) In the co-operation for Power and Energy Efficiency, it has decided to 
• Hold a U.S. – India Energy Efficiency Technology Cooperation Conference on May 2-3, 2006 at New Delhi, conference on energy efficiency in April 2006 
• A “Clean Coal Technology Partnership” between the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the USA and the National Thermal Power Corporation of India (NTPC) is being discussed to advance R&D in clean and efficient power generation using Indian coal.
A Clean Coal Business Development Council is being has been established to expand participation of well-known service providers for R&M of old thermal plants and a conference on this theme is proposed for June 2006. 

(7) In the area of New Technology & Renewable Energy, a delegation from India led by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources will visit the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in spring, 2006 to explore co-operation with the USA in (ii) standards and testing of solar thermal and photovoltaic systems, (ii) development of concentrating collectors, and (iii) energy efficient buildings. 
(8) Under co-operation on civil nuclear energy, a workshop was held in January 2006 on a range of topics including best practices for nuclear power plant design, new concepts in construction, commissioning, operations, safety, life extension and regulatory oversight. The next workshop will be later this year in the USA. The ongoing cooperation in high-energy and nuclear physics continues. With India joining the ITER project, both Governments have agreed to correspond on establishing a mechanism for cooperation between scientists working on fusion science. Similarly, the ongoing cooperation between India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USA will continue in an autonomous manner.