By IANS,
Kolkata : The European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC), an agency co-funded by the European Union (EU) for promoting clean technologies in India, will facilitate establishing 30 projects in the country in the near future.
“The EBTC has around 25 to 30 projects in the pipeline which will come up in the near future,” its director P.V. Jensen said at a programme organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry here Thursday.
“The Indo-European projects will be in biotechnology, energy, environment and transport sectors. Of the 30, five have already been finalised and will come up soon,” he added.
However, Jensen did not give any time frame.
Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy, information technology among others.
The EBTC assists the business, science and research communities in Europe and India to work together towards generating new business opportunities in clean technology transfer.
On choosing India for EBTC’s projects, Jensen said the country offers tremendous opportunities in the four sectors the commission deals with along with the strong will to tackle climate change.
“The growth rate in biotech, energy, environment and transport sectors is much higher than India’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate.
“The growth is much higher in pockets. This offers huge opportunities that can be utilised. Also, India is among very few economies which have been able to register a sustained growth,” he added.
On the occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between city-based Hari Machines Ltd and RAFAKO of Poland for the delivery of circulating fluidised bed boilers (CFBB). The Rs.60 crore project will produce around 200 boilers, each of 100 MW capacity.
Jensen said if the projects in India succeeded, the EBTC will foray into other countries in Asia and other continents.
“If this is successful, we will do our good work in countries like Thailand, China, Vietnam, South Africa and other booming economies of the world. It (clean technology) is something that not only Indian or European countries want but the demand is from the companies across the globe.”
About West Bengal, Jensen said the state offers great scope for investment across core industries, including clean technology. “It can be an attractive destination for EU corporates for a number of reasons, including rising GDP growth over the years.”