'India is EU's key ally on climate amid geopolitical turbulence'

Wopke Hoekstra, the European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, feels when it comes to the India-EU partnership, «the sky truly is the limit for the future».

This comes at a time when countries are grappling with challenges on multiple fronts-geopolitical headwinds, the need to secure industrial competitiveness while also tackling climate change.
Bullish on India's efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy while expanding the country's economic output and bridging development gaps, Hoekstra, who was in Delhi last week, spoke of the potential for increased India-EU cooperation in areas like renewables and batteries, building the clean manufacturing industrial base in India and Europe, and delivering on the promise of carbon markets.

«I have the ambition to make sure we have way more Indian manufacturing in the domains of solar and wind, and storage coming into the EU. India is known for the quality of its products and for its fantastic entrepreneurship and it is a very trustworthy partner. And clearly this would help India as it would give an additional impetus to its already great economy. It would help us to get high quality products for good prices,» said Hoekstra.

Ahead of the India visit, the European Commission had unveiled the EU Clean Industrial Deal, a plan to deliver on the region's green transition and industrial competitiveness. In its recent budget, India too unveiled a clean manufacturing plan. Both efforts provide the necessary grounding to make good on Hoekstra's ambition.