G20: US to help India lower energy transition cost through new investment platform

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held a bilateral meeting on July 17.

India and the US have agreed to work together to lower the former's cost of energy transition through a new investment platform, according to statements made by the finance heads of the two nations. In a statement on July 17, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she looked forward to furthering India and US' bilateral interests "through development cooperation and new investment opportunities through Alternate Investment platforms for renewable energy".

In her own statement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she too looked forward to "working with India on an investment platform to deliver a lower cost of capital and increased private investment to speed India's energy transition".

Sitharaman and Yellen held bilateral talks earlier today on July 17 in Gandhinagar ahead of the start of the two-day meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

On the agenda

The Indian finance minister said the talks focussed on furthering the G20 agenda, with issues discussed including strengthening multilateral development banks, coordinated climate action, facilitating consensus to issues related with rising indebtedness among low and middle-income countries, and "harnessing opportunities" presented by crypto-assets and digital public infrastructure for financial inclusion.

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On her part, Yellen reiterated her commitment to push for the reform of multilateral development banks, although any capital increases should only be considered after progress is made on the reform front.

In their meeting, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors are set to discuss the first volume of the report by the Larry Summers and NK Singh-led expert group on reforming multilateral development banks. The report will be made public on July 18.