Thursday, June 30 2005 13:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: The high-level India and the European Union (EU) Energy Panel has decided to set up three Working groups to further consolidate cooperation in key energy areas.

At their one-day inaugural meeting in Brussels yesterday (Jun 29, 2005), the Panel decided to set up Working Groups in Coal and clean coal conversion technologies; Energy efficiency and renewable energies; and Fusion energy including India's participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.

The Panel was headed on the Indian side by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and on the EU side by Lamoureaux, Director General for Energy and Transport in the European Commission.

The India-EU Energy Panel was constituted as a follow up to a decision taken at the fifth India-EU Summit at the Hague in November 2004, when leaders on the two sides agreed to commence wide-ranging dialogue on energy, underlining the importance they attached to India-EU cooperation in this sector.

The Panel has been set up to discuss various possible strategies for development of secure and sustainable energy supplies of fossil, renewable and nuclear energy.

The two sides agreed to the 'Terms of Reference of the Panel', which envisages cooperation by India and EU in a large number of areas, including demand/supply assessment, joint action for developing new sources of energy, including harnessing of nuclear energy, improving efficiencies, technology tie-ups and greater investment flows.