- Tuesday, March 04, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) on Wednesday (18) estimated that its portfolio in India has the potential to unlock $37 billion (£367 million) in financing in sectors sectors such as clean energy, digital connectivity and infrastructure.
USTDA director Enoh T Ebong also said her organisation is “very interested” in exploring collaboration with India in its ambitious plan to build green hydrogen projects. Ebong is currently on a visit to India.
“We are very interested in exploring collaboration in this new technology,” she told a small group of reporters when asked about possible collaboration between India and the US in the upcoming area of green hydrogen.
India on January 4 approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore (£1.9 billion) to develop a green hydrogen production capacity of five million tonnes a year by 2030.
Asked about the USTDA’s portfolio in India, she said it is involved in approximately 200 activities in several sectors.
The USTDA provides funding for feasibility studies, extends assistance and helps implement pilot projects to integrate the US private sector innovation into infrastructure projects in various parts of the globe.
“We estimate that our portfolio has the potential to unlock USD37 billion in financing. So that’s what we think we will be able to, if these projects are implemented, (and they could) unlock that amount of financing. We look at it in terms of what is the possibility here and looking at our portfolio that is what we estimate,” she said.
Ebong added that she is in India to build a public-private sector partnership between the two countries that will contribute to the accomplishment of India’s infrastructure priorities.
“These are the critical tools for attracting financing and deploying innovative technology to achieve India’s highest infrastructure priorities,” Ebong said.
The USTDA director said her trip has been notable for progress in areas including clean energy, digital connectivity and civil aviation. She said the USTDA launched a new partnership with eight state governments in India on Wednesday for the inter-state clean energy procurement programme.
“The USTDA is funding training for their procurement officials with the ultimate goal of implementing clean energy projects that are of highest quality and provide the people of India with the best value for their money,” the official said.
She said the USTDA also announced a feasibility study funding that will enable it to expand the network for broadband connectivity to more than 30 million people in rural and urban communities in 16 Indian states. Ebong said her visit to India has been both “productive and meaningful”, noting that the USTDA’s commitment to India embodies President Joe Biden’s vision of creating global partnerships that are “good for all of us”.
Asked whether USTDA is also looking at partnering with India in implementing projects under the ambitious Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), she did not give a direct reply. “We are very excited with the launch of IPEF. It is completely consistent with the work that we do,” she said.
In line with Washington’s long-term vision for the Indo-Pacific region, US president Biden in May last year launched the IPEF, which is an initiative aimed at deeper cooperation among like-minded countries in areas like clean energy, supply-chain resilience and digital trade. The initiative was largely seen as an attempt to counter growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
(PTI)
