India’s multi-faceted energy challenges often require innovative solutions. To advance such solutions, NITI Aayog, the premier policy and knowledge generating arm of the Government of India, has partnered with the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago to collaborate on a variety of topics including electricity distribution and energy modeling initiatives.
The Memorandum of Understanding will facilitate research and analysis in the fields of energy and environment policy, energy market economics and pricing, data management, energy efficiency, energy resources and transportation. It is also envisioned that the joint venture will augment energy modeling activities of national and global energy supply and pave the way for innovative reforms in the Indian electricity distribution sector.Additionally, this partnership will form a platform for the dissemination of EPIC research with the parallel goal of enabling scale-up of successful policy innovations.
“The core purpose of this alliance is to create an opportunity to exchange knowledge with stakeholders and to identify robust evidence-based policy interventions for the energy sector,”says Anant Sudarshan, EPIC-India’s director. “Together with NITI Aayog,we have the potential to expand access to reliable and affordable sources of energy in India.”
Apart from sharing data and implementing pilot projects on innovative energy solutions, the organizations will host joint workshops and seminars on energy issues.The partnership builds on robust collaborations EPIC-India has already formed with various state electricity distribution utilities, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and state environmental regulators.