The Australia India Business Council Ltd (AIBC) NSW State Chapter, the AIBC Critical Infrastructure Industry Chapter and the AIBC Make with India Industry Chapter jointly hosted the “Bilateral opportunities in Clean Energy, Renewables and Minerals & Mining Tech” event in partnership with the Consulate General India, Sydney and Invest India at the Sydney Start up Hub on 6 May 2024.
This event followed the successful initial session in this series on “Advanced Manufacturing and Industry 4.0” held last year and will highlight AI-ECTA & CECA collaborative bilateral opportunities across these important industries.
Mr Irfan Malik, Associate Chair and NSW President, Australia India Business Council welcomed members, speakers, business partners and and guests, and outlined this session would deliberate and identify key growing bilateral opportunities emanating from the Australia India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI ECTA) .
Mr Malik thanked event partner, RSM Australia; AIBC NSW State Sponsor BDO Australia and AIBC National Sponsor NIB for their ongoing support.
Dr S Janakiraman, Consul General of India, Sydney in his opening remarks stated, “The economic relationship between Australia and India has been growing in many fields. India has come out with clear policies and programs to meet Net Zero targets in 2050 and 2070. We have ambitious programs to move away from Fossil Fuel to other green energy technologies. Such programs will benefit many small to medium enterprises, encourage new companies, innovative ideas so that new opportunities can be created in clean energy, renewables and critical minerals.”
Ms Julia Finn MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier of New South Wales, congratulated the AIBC on this initiative and outlined various bilateral NSW-India projects, sister State Agreements and ongoing initiatives by the NSW Government to promote the bilateral trade including critical minerals, mining technology and development. She added that developing a Resilient Green Energy Supply Chain would be a key priority task for the NSW Government, in line with the Hydrogen Strategy. Ms Finn welcomed new companies considering investing in NSW in the areas of critical minerals and renewable energy.
Ms Nivruti Rai, Invest India CEO & MD, in her detailed presentation highlighted Government of India plans to achieve 50% of its energy target 2030. Ms Rai stressed the need for strategic partnership between Australia and India in critical mineral processing, Green Hydrogen and Electric Vehicles to create value in the supply chain. Ms Rai said, “People, research and technology were important for Australia India bilateral objectives.” She invited Australian companies to invest in India in the fast-growing energy and critical mineral industries.
Detailed, virtual presentations were made by the Invest India team of experts, including Mr Romil Ravi, Assistant Vice President who presented the five-stage strategic approach and value chain options in the critical minerals industry; Mr Rajat Gupta, Senior Manager, elaborated on the growing Indian Electric Vehicle and Lithium-Ion markets and a resilient battery supply chain including raw material explorations, strategic partnerships and research and development.
The Hon Andrew Robb, former Australian Federal Trade Minister was one of the special guests participating at this important event.
Mr Anand Singh, AIBC Critical Infrastructure Industry Chapter Lead, outlined benefits of the fusion of algorithms and Artificial Intelligence within the mining sector generating interconnected datasets and making strategic connections. He introduced Berg Engineering as a case study, representing bilateral opportunities in this space.
Mr Derek Berg, CEO Berg Engineering thanked the AIBC for facilitating the collaborative market approach in India, touched upon intelligent asset lifecycle management solutions and the application of innovation and environmentally friendly materials in the manufacturing of these assets within the context of ESG.
Mr Vish Viswanathan, AIBC Make with India Industry Chapter Lead highlighted specific market segments and opportunities in Renewables & Clean Energy, Auto & Electric Vehicles and Mining & Mining Tech. He elaborated on some examples of where Indian demand and Australian capabilities converge include in the Energy Industry and EV such as improvement of transmission and distribution, including efficient management of renewable generation, installing and managing distributed solar systems, smart grid technologies (including advanced analytics), pumped hydro design and management, battery storage technologies.
Other eminent guest speakers include:
Prof Iain MacGill, Renewables & Green Hydrogen UNSW, provided insights on smart technologies and collaborative opportunities in Hydrogen and Renewables, Batteries, Smart Grids Electrification projects and key applications as well as shared supply chain, research & development. Prof MacGill also suggested shared funding programs for joint development projects in the sustainable energy sector.
Mr Harry Guinness, Head of Net Zero at Greenhouse stated that climatic actions through people-to-people connections offered primary opportunities with India.
Mr Burton Andrews, Senior Partner BDO, outlined BDO’s ongoing partnership with India on regulatory requirements.
The event concluded with an overview and vote of thanks delivered by Ms Jessica Olivier, Director RSM Australia.
Several outcome focused information and insights on the bi-lateral market opportunities were shared at this important session that included,
- Participation by businesses from both Australia and India including key industry bodies like Invest India
- Insights on the NSW Government programs on green energy, Hydrogen, and critical minerals.
- Insights on the Government of India’s Net Zero plans and collaborative opportunities
- Identification of specific opportunities for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in energy, renewables, and critical minerals
- Investment opportunities for Australian companies in India in energy and critical minerals
- Promotion of specific bilateral opportunities in critical minerals, mining tech, green energy, renewables, Hydrogen, Electric Vehicle technologies
- Identification of joint development projects in sustainable energy, smart grid technologies
- Innovative opportunities including research & development.
Some of the key highlights / outcomes achieved from the session include:
- Business and Industry participation across Australia and India including 40 plus in-person and 25 plus online across the sectors of Renewables, Clean Energy, EV, Mining & Mining Technology.
- 8 -10 active business to business leads generated for fostering bi-lateral interests to scale and partner between the markets.
- 3 – 4 scale-up market investment propositions being pursued further across Australia and India.
- 2 – 3 Industry collaboration and bilateral JV opportunities generated and being facilitated.
Contact: secretariat@aibc.org.au | 1300 176 684