Mumbai:

The United States is “very interested” in cooperating with India on nuclear technology transfer, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Union Energy Secretary Alok Kumar was asked how the G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant’s request for “unlimited access” to US technology was received by the delegation attending the third meeting of the G20 energy transition group on Tuesday. Washington positive.

“The US delegation is also present as part of the G20 group and supports technology transfer. But it’s always on a voluntary basis which is mutually agreed upon,” Kumar told reporters on Financial Capital.

Details had to be worked out and mutually agreed upon, he said.

“I think the US side is keen to cooperate with India on technology, including nuclear technology,” Kumar said.

Addressing a side meeting of the Executive Committee on small modular reactors and the potential they hold, Kant appealed to America and said this transfer of technology would help India produce small nuclear power plants that would become operational soon and even eventually. will be exported.

Mr. Kumar told reporters that scientists in the nuclear department were already working on the development of domestic SMR technology.

The Labor Ministry, which is leading negotiations on the energy transition task force at the G-20 as India’s part of the group, said there was broad consensus on all the recommendations made by India to the delegates.

There are some differences in the details on how to move forward and the exact path forward, Kumar said, adding that the committee will continue to have remote discussions on each part of the resolution until the end. fourth part. A meeting in Goa in July before a ministerial meeting.

India was able to convince the panel to prioritize future fuels which include green hydrogen and biofuels, Kumar said.

The exact nomenclature — whether to call it green hydrogen or clean hydrogen — has yet to be decided, said Kumar, who previously reported disagreement over whether the original hydrogen nuclear had to be considered as “green hydrogen” or not.

In the field of biofuels, countries have agreed to include it in the list of future fuels without compromising food security, Kumar said, adding that other countries like Brazil and Indonesia have achieved very high blending levels. students.

Mr Kumar said most of the waste and residue could be used to produce biofuels, a feature that could increase farmers’ incomes and create jobs.

(Apart from the title, this story has no editing by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)