Until recently, mutual interests between India and Japan were primarily limited to economic matters like development assistance and trade, but today they are more diversified and cover a wide range of subjects, the salient ones being nuclear disarmament, maritime security, energy cooperation, climate change, counter terrorism, UN reforms and regional community building.
Moreover Science Technology is also one of the fields where the two countries showed active interest in building a new relation. Realizing this potential, the two leaders launched a joint committee on Science and Technology Cooperation in 2000. They stressed on areas such as modern biology, biotechnology, health care, agriculture, hydrocarbon fuels, environment, information and communication technology, robotics, alternative sources of energy, etc
Since then India and Japan have cooperated in various fields and have taken initiative in rare earth production, Technology transfer in various fields’ especially non renewable energy, Nuclear energy, information and communication technology, interaction at various ministries level on science and technology upgradation etc.
In the following areas two countries have been cooperating:
1) Development of rare earth industry in India
India and Japan have signed the memorandum of understanding in November, 2012 to develop rare earth industry in India. The MOU also enables Japan to import rare minerals from India. They would also work to develop a joint venture in other countries.
Japan is the world’s largest importer of REE, mainly because of its major industrial base in electronics and the consequent demand for a significant amount of REE. REEs are required for computers, laptops and televisions. They also have significant usage in mobile telephony and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment.
Given that the majority production of rare earth materials (over 97 percent of the world’s REE market) is controlled by China it is imperative for Japan to diversify sources for REE import (a potential safeguard against a possible embargo by China amid the Japan-China territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands).
India is known to be the second largest producer of REEs. According to one estimate made in 2010, China produced 1.3 lakh tonnes of REEs while India’s output was 2,700 tonnes. India could supply around 4,100 tons a year, equivalent to roughly 10 percent of Japan’s peak annual demand
Indian Rare Earth Limited, a company affiliated with India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), and Toyotsu Rare Earths India Pvt. Ltd have already made some progress in the production of rare earth material.
2) DMIC project and Smart Community Projects
- Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor
India’s ambitious $90-billion DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation. Japan is giving financial and technical aid for the project.
The project aims to develop an environmentally sustainable, long lasting and technological advanced infrastructure utilizing cutting age Japanese technologies and to create world class manufacturing and investment destinations in this region.
The two countries are also working on upcoming Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor project.
- Smart Community projects:
India and Japan has also agreed to promote a Smart Community initiative under Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor project that aims to create an eco-friendly society with focus on renewable energy, recycling and efficient power management system. (Smart communities – cities, towns, neighborhoods and villages that reduce their energy demand and generate their own power from renewable sources)
3) Energy cooperation:
Since 2006, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) in association with NEDO (New Energy and Technology Development Organizationhas been co-hosting the India-Japan Energy Forum which provides an opportunity to the Indian and Japanese stakeholders to discuss various technological and policy related issues in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
No comments:
Post a Comment