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The Indian energy efficiency market presents enormous potential to create U.S. jobs, asserted a senior level official of the U.S. Department of Commerce here.
Speaking at a clean-technology exports luncheon at California State University East Bay, Ro Khanna, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Commercial Service in the Department of Commerce, noted that India had last month pledged to generate 20 gigawatts of solar energy by the year 2020.
Khanna co-led an energy efficiency trade mission to India Nov. 16-20 with Rick Wade, deputy chief of staff for Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. The mission took representatives of 16 energy efficiency companies to Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi to woo potential clients in those cities.
The trade delegation also met with senior Indian government officials and participated in a clean-tech conference in New Delhi.
“I was extraordinarily impressed by the size of the market in India,” said Khanna. “In India, energy efficiency is not just a moral issue, but an economic one, because it saves costs,” he emphasized, noting that huge opportunities existed for U.S. companies to help reverse climate change through energy efficiency technologies in the developing world.
The aim of last month’s trade mission to India was to generate jobs for Americans by creating opportunities overseas, said Khanna. “Our economy needs export-driven demand to create jobs,” he emphasized, adding that a five percent increase in exports to Asia would result in “thousands of U.S. jobs.”
Khanna’s talk came the day after President Barack Obama’s job summit, which brought together more than 130 business leaders to brainstorm ideas about creating jobs for the nation’s beleaguered economy.
The San Francisco Bay Area is in a unique position to capture India’s growing need for alternative energy sources, said Khanna, citing the region’s diversity and innovation.
Locke’s agenda is to increase promotional services and matchmaking opportunities abroad for U.S. companies, added Khanna.
“The world really is our marketplace. It’s not enough for companies just to sell locally,” said Khanna, formerly an intellectual property attorney at O’Melveny and Myers.
The Obama administration aims to create a “commercial diplomacy,” he stated. “You can be a vigorous advocate for American business and American jobs, but still improve the way of life for people around the world.”
Following the India trade mission, several deals between U.S. and Indian companies are already in the works, Khanna later told India-West, describing the mission as a success.
Khanna’s talk preceded a panel on clean-technology exports sponsored by the Commerce Department. Amit Jain, senior commodities manager at the Richmond, Calif.-based SunPower Corporation, noted that India would become a billion-dollar market for clean-technology in the next three years.
“India is at the tipping point now,” said Jain, adding that the country could be a platform for global innovation.
Nand Ramchandani, director of business development at the San Leandro, Calif.-based OSISoft, noted that every dollar in software exports triggers $20 in hardware and services that have to be exported as well. About 40 percent of OSISoft’s revenues come from the power sector, much of which is still state-owned, said Ramchandani.
Patrick Kennedy, CEO and founder of OSISoft, was presented an award for the company’s energy efficiency endeavors in the challenging Russian market, while Jain accepted an award for SunPower’s work in India.
