US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced a new partnership to increase collaboration for clean energy development.

In a step toward increasing US-India collaboration for clean energy development, the USAID and MNRE on Tuesday announced the launch of a partnership between the USAID-supported South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE) and MNRE's National Technical Institutions.

Under the partnership, SAGE will provide advanced technical knowledge on clean energy development embedded in the US Department of Energy's National Laboratories to the MNRE's National Technical Institutions and other public institutes.

MNRE Secretary, Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, and USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, Javier Piedra, launched the partnership on the sidelines of the ongoing US-India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) meetings.

To maximize the impact of this partnership, the SAGE Consortium, in discussion with the MNRE and its technical institutions, the National Institute of Wind Energy and the National Institute of Biomass Energy, has identified several key topics for clean energy development.

The SAGE is a consortium consisting of USAID, the US Department of Energy, and three of the Department of Energy's National Laboratories – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.