19 JANUARY 2015: Indo- US relations strained over Make in India n MGNREGA

Ø  A cooperation agreement between India and the U.S. on “clean” or renewable energy, set to be one of the highlights of President Barack Obama’s forthcoming visit to India, has run into U.S. concerns over the government’s “Make in India” plan. The U.S. administration is irked over the government’s announcement of a series of 1,000-MW “grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects” that has a “mandatory condition that all PV cells and modules used in solar plants set up under this scheme will be made in India.” The announcement, made on December 18, came amid the ongoing dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO DISPUTE DS456), where the U.S. has complained against India over the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission’s domestic content requirement (DCR) for solar cells and solar modules in projects that it awards. India maintains that U.S. subsidies on solar products threaten Indian manufacturers, and the domestic solar industry has accused the U.S. of “dumping cheap outdated technology” on India. Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal, who met Mr. Kerry in Gandhinagar, said he was confident of “ironing out the creases” with the U.S. officials, while maintaining that India was committed to its recently announced target of 1,00,000-MW solar power capacity by 2022.