U.S., Japan Sign Agreement to Support Power Sector Development in India

NEW DELHI | May 17, 2007

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation today signed a formal agreement of cooperation to support development and accelerate reform efforts in the Indian power sector.

Kikuo Nakagawa, Chief Representative of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (India), and George Deikun, USAID/India Mission Director, signed the agreement in New Delhi.

This agreement advances infrastructure and rural development to the poor, consistent with the Government of India’s development and power sector agendas. It builds on earlier cooperation between the two partners in India that began with interventions in the water sector and would build up through a program with the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited to improve customer service.

The agreement emphasizes various sectors, including electricity distribution and rural electrification. The agencies will work together on the following activities: alternative financing of rural electrification projects, joint pilot projects in distribution reform and upgrades, capacity development of power sector professionals, and sharing of knowledge and best-practices.

Collaboration and joint funding of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects is another area of cooperation affirmed in the agreement.

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