Starting with a campus in Zanzibar, this initiative has evolved into an expansive undertaking
The initiative aims to enhance energy systems through certification programmes, collaborative research and consultancy projects that combine Indian expertise with local requirements.
The agreement, signed on May 22, 2025, at
IIT
Madras campus, represents a significant international energy partnership. Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), IIT Madras, and Shri Surajit Banerjee, Executive Director (HR), GRID-INDIA, formalised the arrangement.
"IIT Madras Zanzibar was conceived to take our strengths global—but with local roots," said Prof. Santhanam. "This partnership with GRID-INDIA allows us to translate decades of experience in India's power systems into real-world capacity building for East Africa."
GRID-INDIA, a Miniratna organisation managing India's national power grid, contributes its operational knowledge and international collaboration objectives.
"This is more than an MoU. It's a shared mission," said Mr. Paresh R. Ranpara, Director (HR), GRID-INDIA. "Through IIT Madras Zanzibar, we hope to build the technical backbone for power professionals across Tanzania and beyond."
The Energy Consortium, IIT Madras' sustainable energy research centre, combines academic and industrial expertise to address contemporary energy challenges. Following its international expansion to Zanzibar in 2024, the Consortium is extending its reach across Africa.
The initiative aims to enhance Tanzanian power sector professionals' technical abilities through various programmes. It commences with basic certifications in power systems, renewable energy and energy management, followed by advanced courses featuring practical training in power system protection and applied case studies.
The collaboration includes research in emerging technologies such as microgrids, data analytics and artificial intelligence, whilst providing technical consultation for Tanzania's power infrastructure challenges.
"We will deliver state-of-the-art lectures and training for Tanzanian professionals to bridge the theory-practice gap in modern power engineering," said Prof. Shanti Swarup, Principal Investigator and professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras.
Dr. Nikhil Tambe, CEO of The Energy Consortium, noted: "From a chapter in Zanzibar to a region-wide movement—this is how energy knowledge travels. This is how change begins." This partnership between IIT Madras and GRID-INDIA offers comprehensive support for energy development in Africa, where both energy accessibility and efficiency are crucial priorities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
23 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Top Trump adviser to visit India for IMEC meeting
The Trump White House's top official on South Asia, Ricky Gill, is expected to visit India for a summit focused on the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) next week, according to persons aware of the matter. Gill's visit is expected even as bilateral tensions between New Delhi and Washington have risen in the last week over tariffs and India's energy purchases from Russia. US President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent, plus a penalty, on Indian goods on Wednesday. (File/AP) Gill, who is currently Senior Director for South and Central Asian Affairs at the powerful National Security Council, is expected to hold meetings with top Indian officials as well as representatives from a number of European nations. The NSC, which is based out of the White House, typically functions as a powerful body that coordinates military, economic and diplomatic policies across a range of government departments and agencies. Gill is a veteran of the first Trump administration, when he also served in the National Security Council handling Russia and European energy issues. Gill has also served in America's State Department. The IMEC Summit, which will be hosted in New Delhi on August 5 and 6, will be attended by officials from European and Middle Eastern nations that are prominent backers of the ambitious connectivity scheme. Launched on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India in September 2023, IMEC was a planned economic and trade corridor that would link India's economy to markets in Europe through the Middle East. India, America, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany and Italy were the key signatories to the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that established IMEC. Talks on operationalising IMEC's connectivity corridors have faced headwinds due to the outbreak of conflict in West Asia after the October 7 attacks in Israel. 'It has definitely been a source of concern for us and the kind of expectation we had when the agreement was signed in September, we have had to adjust it a bit,' said India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in 2024, some months after the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The IMEC summit in New Delhi is expected to push discussions on the trade and connectivity corridor forward. However, the meeting will also take place in the backdrop of increasingly tense relations between India and America. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on India, plus an unspecified penalty for purchasing Russian energy products. The two countries have been unable to clinch a trade agreement despite the fact that talks were launched in February 2025. On the same day, Washington concluded a trade agreement with Pakistan and pledged to help develop the country's 'massive oil reserves'. Later, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump lambasted India and Russia as 'dead economies'. It is as yet unclear if present bilateral tensions will impact Gill's plans to travel to India. As Trump's top South Asia policy hand in the National Security Council, Gill has a crucial role in shaping the White House's approach to India. However, in April, the size of the NSC was halved after a number of staffers were either let go or retired to their parent government departments. This has affected the NSC's traditional influential role in shaping American foreign policy. However, Gill is still considered one of the few India hands in a position of authority in the Trump administration. Paul Kapur, Trump's nominee to lead South Asia affairs at the State Department, has not yet been confirmed by the United States Senate. There have also been no announcements about the administration's plans to nominate an Ambassador to India. This matters particularly at a time when the bilateral relationship has faced some strain. The IMEEC will comprise of two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Gulf and the northern corridor connecting the Gulf to Europe. The corridor intends to enhance connectivity, increase efficiency, reduce costs, secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility and generate jobs, resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and Middle East. (b) to (e) An Intergovernmental Framework Agreement (IGFA) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) concerning cooperation for operation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) was signed on 13 February 2024. The main elements of the Framework include development and management of a logistics platform, including a digital ecosystem, and provision of supply chain services to handle all types of general cargo, bulk, containers and liquid bulk in order to enable IMEEC.
Hindustan Times
23 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Will defend national interest, says Centre after tariff shock
India will take 'all necessary steps' to secure its national interest, commerce minister Piyush Goyal told parliament on Thursday, a day after US President Donald Trump announced punitive tariffs on Indian goods. While acknowledging Donald Trump's Wednesday post as reason for making a suo moto statement in Parliament, Piyush Goyal on Thursday reiterated the Trump administration's April 2 executive order.(File/ANI) 'The implications of the recent development are being examined by the government,' Goyal said in a suo motu statement, making a tacit reference to Trump's Truth Social post on Wednesday that India will face a 25% reciprocal tariff plus an unspecified additional penalty for purchasing Russian crude oil from August 1. The minister said the commerce ministry is engaged with all stakeholders, including exporters and industry for taking feedback on their assessment of the situation. Trump's reaction was an outcome of India refusing to budge on retaining protections for its agriculture, dairy and micro, small and medium enterprises from unfettered American imports. On Thursday, the American president continued his targeting of India. 'I don't care what India does with Russia,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday. 'They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.' In Washington, a US appeals court sharply questioned whether Trump's tariffs were justified by the president's emergency powers, after a lower court said he exceeded his authority with sweeping levies on imported goods from a wide variety of countries. The US emergency powers law 'doesn't even say tariffs, doesn't even mention them,' one of the judges said. 'The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, exporters, MSMEs and all sections of Industry. We will take all necessary steps to secure and advance our national interest,' Goyal told both houses of Parliament. People close to the development said the Trump administration is yet to send any formal communication over the tariffs or the quantum of the penalty. 'Situation will be clear in the next two days, which will help to assess the impact for considered action,' one of them said. 'The government is in touch with stakeholders and the industry is willing to cooperate with the government,' a second person said. Both people requested anonymity. They said negotiations for the proposed first tranche of the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) are continuing, and so far, the New Delhi visit of the American negotiating team is unchanged on August 24 for the sixth round of talks. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo) director general Ajay Sahai said: 'The current development seems temporary as both sides are negotiating a BTA, which will resolve issues of punitive tariffs. Meanwhile, during this temporary phase, both exporters and importers may absorb the impact of the US tariff action.' Industry experts said not all Indian goods would be subjected to reciprocal or punitive tariff as about 45-50% goods by value fall in the exempt category. India exported goods worth about $86 billion to the US in 2024-25. Sectors such as electronics, energy, pharmaceutical ingredients, and precious metals remain exempt from additional duties under existing US trade regulations, potentially protecting billions in Indian exports. However, key export sectors such as textiles, engineering goods, and processed foods face the full tariff burden. According to the people mentioned above, since Trump's message came informally through a social media handle, the minister ostensibly chose not to mention specific details of the President's Wednesday post in Parliament. Instead, he recounted the last official position of the White House in the executive order. While acknowledging Trump's Wednesday post as reason for making a suo moto statement in Parliament, Goyal on Thursday reiterated the Trump administration's April 2 executive order. 'I would like to apprise the House about the statement by the President of the United States of America (US) on 30th July 2025 regarding the applicable tariff on bilateral trade from 1st August 2025. On 2nd April 2025, the US President had issued an executive order on reciprocal tariffs imposing additional duties ranging from 10% to 50% on imports from its trading partners. A baseline duty of 10% has been effective from 5th April 2025,' he said. 'The additional duty on India was announced at 26% including baseline tariff of 10%. Originally, the full country specific additional duty was to be effective from 9th April 2025 but was postponed initially for 90 days on 10th April 2025 and further extended up to 1st August 2025,' his statement in Parliament said. India and the US entered into negotiations for a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in March 2025 with a target to complete the first tranche of the agreement by fall of 2025, the minister said. 'The two sides finalised the detailed Terms of Reference (ToR) to enter into negotiations of the BTA on 29th March 2025 during the first physical round of discussions held at New Delhi. Thereafter, four physical rounds of negotiations have taken place between both sides, in New Delhi and Washington D.C., to work towards finalisation of the BTA in accordance with the agreed ToR. In addition, there have been many virtual meetings between the two sides,' he added. On Wednesday, Trump indicated that the two countries were still negotiating. US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Thursday offered a more nuanced view of the relationship in a Fox News podcast, describing India as a strategic partner while acknowledging the energy purchases as a 'point of irritation.' 'Like anything in foreign policy, you're not going to align a hundred percent of the time on everything,' Rubio said. 'India has huge energy needs and that includes the ability to buy oil and coal and gas that it needs to power its economy like every country does, and it buys it from Russia, because Russian oil is sanctioned and cheap.' However, Rubio emphasised the administration's frustration with the arrangement. 'Unfortunately that is helping to sustain the Russian war effort. So it is most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship with India—not the only point of irritation. We also have many other points of cooperation with them.' 'What you're seeing the President express is the very clear frustration that with so many other oil vendors available, India continues to buy so much from Russia, which in essence is helping to fund the war effort and allowing this war to continue in Ukraine,' he added.
India Today
27 minutes ago
- India Today
Trump and team 'frustrated' with India over trade talks: US Treasury Secretary
Days after imposing a 25% tariff along with additional penalties on Indian imports, Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US president and his entire trade team are "frustrated" with India over stalled trade talks."Well, I don't know what's going to happen. It will be up to India," Bessent said during an interview on CNBC. "India came to the table early. They've been slow rolling things. So I think that the President, the whole trade team, has been frustrated with them."advertisementUS President Donald Trump, on Wednesday, announced a sweeping 25% tariff on all Indian imports starting August 1 — a dramatic escalation that also includes penalties over India's purchases of Russian crude oil and military hardware. According to Bessent, the US sees India as taking advantage of global sanctions by becoming a key buyer of discounted Russian oil. "They have been a large buyer of sanctioned Russian oil, which they then resell as refined products," he said. "So, they have not been a great global actor."'India has not been a great global actor. They're buying sanctioned Russian oil'- US Treasury Secretary Scott BessentBharat is sovereign Nation & has every right to ensure its energy security. Bharat doesn't need certificate on its global prowess from Trump ATLEAST. BhikuMhatre (@MumbaichaDon) July 31, 2025RUBIO CRITICISES INDIA'S OIL PURCHASESUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio also expressed similar sentiments on Thursday, saying that India's continued oil trade with Russia is helping to sustain Moscow's war efforts in Ukraine. Speaking to Fox Radio, Rubio noted that India's stance is "most certainly a point of irritation" in its relationship with Washington — though not the only also claimed that President Biden is growing increasingly frustrated with New Delhi's decision to maintain oil imports from Russia despite having access to "so many other oil vendors." He argued that India's purchases are effectively helping fund Russia's military campaign in surprise tariff announcement is widely viewed as a pressure tactic aimed at pushing New Delhi to concede to US trade demands. The move comes as Washington has recently secured favourable trade agreements with key partners, including Japan, the UK, and the European PLANS TO RETALIATEIndia has said it will take "all necessary steps" to safeguard its national interests and is currently assessing the full implications of the proposed down all the noise around US tariffs, the government has said that India will not retaliate against the levy and is open for discussion on the negotiation table and finding a solution that serves the best interests of both parties, sources told India Thursday, Trump doubled down on his long-standing gripe over India's trade practices, accusing the country of levying "among the highest tariffs in the world" and blaming New Delhi for what he claimed was "very little business" between the two nations."I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care," he wrote in a fiery post on Truth Social.- EndsWith inputs from AgenciesTune InMust Watch
