Minister Väyrynen: India full of cooperation opportunities
Indian Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah and his delegation met Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen on Wednesday, 30 March. The topics of discussion included Finnish know-how in renewable energies, energy situation and challenges of energy production in India, the future of nuclear power construction after Fukushima, and bilateral trade between Finland and India.
There is demand for Finnish know-how related to energy production and efficiency in the growing energy markets of India. In Finland, Minister Abdullah is especially interested in bioenergy, biofuels, and the expertise in sustainable forestry and utilisation of forest waste.
“India wants to enhance its science and technology cooperation with Finland. Finland has much top know-how in various sectors. Especially innovation cooperation interests India,” Minister Abdullah highlighted.
The rapid economic and population growth of India and the reduction of poverty call for substantial increase in energy production. More than 40 per cent of Indian population still live without electricity. The country must invest heavily in utilisation of renewable energy sources in order to be able to reduce use of fossil fuels for climate change reasons.
According to Abdullah, additional construction of nuclear power is also essential for India, even though, in the light of the situation in Fukushima, Indian people are scared too. At the moment, India is in the process of building 5 new nuclear reactors in addition to the 20 reactors currently in operation. Good care must be taken of safety. Therefore, Indian nuclear experts have visited Olkiluoto 3 power plant, getting acquainted with its safety arrangements. Minister Väyrynen emphasised that the safety of Finnish power plants is of a very high standard.
Both Minister Väyrynen and Minister Abdullah hoped that, within the next few years, the results of Abdullah’s visit would manifest themselves as increased trade between Finland and India. The volume of trade is on the growth again after the drop of 2009, but, at approximately EUR 950 million, it is still low compared to what it could potentially be.