India and Sweden on Monday signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the Renewable Energy sector to enhance the technology and bring in energy efficiency in India. The first MoU was signed between Swedish solar pump manufactured Spowdi and Bangalore based EMVEE for setting up local manufacturing/assembly in Bangalore. The second MoU was signed between Swedish Earth Fault Protection System provider Swedish Neutral and India’s leading distribution company Tata Power DDL for setting up a pilot for earth fault protection in Delhi.

The MoUs were signed on the sidelines of the inauguration of the first of its kind ‘Sustainability by Sweden – Showroom India’ by Swedish Energy, Agency Business Sweden, and The Embassy of Sweden under the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Programme. The showroom was inaugurated at Business Sweden, New Delhi by AK Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Josa Karre, counsellor and head of Economic Affairs, Embassy of Sweden, and Josephine Bahr Ljungdell – Director of International Affairs, Swedish Energy Agency.

India and Sweden share a long history of collaboration which is guided by MoUs in the fields of energy, environment, science & technology, and sustainable urban planning. To further strengthen the collaboration, this showroom has been set up in India as the next step towards bi-lateral programme—India Sweden Innovations Accelerator (ISIA). The showroom will present over 20 Swedish innovative technologies which have been introduced and filtered through the dedicated ISIA programme.

The programme has been recognised as the flagship programme to expand research, innovation, and business cooperation on new innovative energy technologies between India and Sweden.

Arun Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India, said, “India is a growing country and equally contributing to the global Energy sector. Going further, there is a need to add renewables and sustainability solutions. We are looking forward to stronger India-Sweden association and programmes to support innovations and new technologies. I wish this initiative by Sweden a success and look for a stronger bond in bringing newer expertise and innovations.”

Ludvig Lindstrom, Country Head India, Swedish Energy Agency, said, “India and Sweden share the common objective on the need for innovation to cater to the growing need for sustainable and green energy. The India-Sweden Innovations’ Accelerator (ISIA) programme is a part of intergovernmental cooperation between India and Sweden in the area of new and renewable energy technology. Sweden is one of the most sustainable countries with a growing share of renewables and complete carbon neutrality by 2045. Our aim of the showroom is to initiate talks on sustainability and joint innovation, research, development, and deployment in India.”

The first exhibition at the showroom was themed as “Sustainability is Everybody’s Business.” It showcases how various innovative Swedish technologies introduced through ISIA programme fit into the Indian context along with projects set up by Swedish companies in India. In addition, different systems based on Swedish technologies to track, power quality, energy savings etc. were on display at the showroom.