 "G20")
On the first day of G20, India announced two major global partnerships under its presidency- Global Biofuel Alliance and India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
Global Biofuel Alliance
GBA was pitched by India and supported by the United States and Brazil. It was launched at the G20 on Saturday. With its launch, GBA became the third multilateral initiative created by the Narendra Modi-led government. The other two are the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
"The launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance marks a watershed moment in our quest towards sustainability and clean energy. I thank the member nations who have joined this Alliance," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his social media posts with a photograph. The photo featured the heads of state of the US, Bangladesh, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, France, South Korea, UAE, and Mauritius, which have been called the initiating members. The member countries are Canada and Singapore, according to the poster at the launch event.
Hardeep Puri, union minister of petroleum and natural gas, also posted on social media platform X. "The world’s quest for cleaner and greener energy gains historic momentum! On a momentous occasion, Prime Minister Sh @narendramodi launches #GlobalBiofuelsAllianceAtG20 with the support of 19 major consumer, producer and interested countries and 12 organisations on the sidelines of #G20India today!” said his post.
The green energy industry cheered the announcement. Several key players in the fuel and automobile sectors have lately placed their bet on biofuels as the next generation green fuel source. "India’s commitment to decarbonisation and just energy transition has been reinforced by the Global Biofuels Alliance. Under the presidency of Narendra Modi, G20 has created a transformative path towards energy transition while ensuring energy security," said R Dinesh, President, CII and executive vice-chairman, TVS Supply Chain Solutions.
The Global Biofuels Alliance aims to slash the use of polluting petrol and diesel in the global transportation economy and to accelerate the adoption of cleaner fuels across sectors. It was also one of the few ideas which had found in-principle support from most G20 members since its inception.
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India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor
At the G20 on Saturday, a novel ‘India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor’ was also announced. Aimed at building rail and waterways corridors across the Middle East and India, the initiative is funded by the G7 group of nations. The project includes India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and the US.
Speaking at the launch, Prime Minister Modi said, "Today we all have reached an important and historic partnership. In the coming times, it will be a major medium of economic integration between India, West Asia and Europe. The corridor will give a new direction to connectivity and sustainable development of the entire world."
The infrastructure corridor is part of an ambitious initiative - the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment. This would entail collaborative funding by the G7 nations for infrastructure projects in developing nations.
Also speaking at the launch, Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, said the economic corridor will make trade between India and Europe "40 per cent faster". Describing the project as a "green and digital bridge across continents and civilisations", she said it will also include data cables and power transmission networks.
