Thursday, March 2 2006 15:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India and United States today (Mar 02 2006) agreed on New Delhi's participation in FutureGen, an international public-private partnership to develop new commercially viable technology for a clean coal near-zero emission power project.

"India will contribute funding to the project and participate in the Government Steering Committee of this initiative," a joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting US President George W. Bush.

Indian companies are also expected to participate in the private sector segment of the project.

FutureGen is an initiative to build the world's first integrated sequestration and hydrogen production research power plant.

The billion-dollar project to which India is contributing 10 million dollars, FutureGen will create the world's first zero-emissions fossil fuel plant, drawing upon the best scientific talent to pursue an innovative 'showcase' project on the design, construction and operation of a technically cutting-edge power plant.