India, US launch new task force for clean energy transition

India and the United States have announced the launch of a new energy task force to support large-scale integration of renewable energy. The announcement of the initiative, which will take the India-US partnership in the energy sector to a new level, came following a bilateral meeting between Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm last week. During the meeting the two leaders underscored the critical importance of bilateral clean energy engagement to strengthen energy security and to accelerate clean, secure, and just energy transition. Amidst volatility in global energy markets, continuing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and increasingly frequent climate-related challenges, they underscored the importance of ensuring reliable energy supplies to ensure balanced energy markets, including India's support for the US initiative to release crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserves, and the importance of diversifying to clean energy sources. See also: MSEDCL seeks bids for 500 MW of wind-solar hybrid powerAdani Green sets up three subsidiaries