Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States at the invitation of Biden of the United States, and the two sides will start important negotiations on "clean energy cooperation". India, one of the world's largest carbon emitters, has pledged to achieve "zero carbon emissions" by 2075, but its clean industry is still very slow and dependent on imports and green industrial chains. Biden intends to sign an agreement with India to promote the standardization of green hydrogen production to promote cooperation between the two countries in the field of clean energy, but in fact, he wants to "pocket" this market in India.
India faces a dilemma between China and the United States on the road to "industrial greening". India, which plans to increase its renewable energy generation capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, will need to import a lot of photovoltaic and wind power equipment, and its domestic production capacity is far from sufficient. India has revealed that India intends to reduce tariffs on China's solar panel imports by half to 20%, which is seen as a "towel" in China's photovoltaic tariff war. Although the United States does not compete with China in clean energy exports, mainly to provide technology and green hydrogen production equipment to India, Biden still does not want India and China to get too close, and deliberately instigates India to "break away from the Chinese chain".
Ahead of his upcoming visit to the United States, India's Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy Raj made some "unfriendly" remarks to the United States, accusing the United States of green hydrogen subsidy auction policy as actually a form of protectionism, and that the United States and Europe are unfair to developing countries by supporting the renewable energy industry with high subsidies. Raj also complained about the double standard that Western countries always ask India to give up coal without mentioning the oil and gas it uses.
Some analysts believe that the United States is taking advantage of its "partnership" with India to reap benefits from India's industrial transformation. It is not easy for India to achieve the goal of "green carbon emissions", and the lack of a domestic production chain of green energy can only be purchased from abroad, which puts a heavy burden on the economy. The U.S. has also taken the opportunity to increase subsidies for its own green production capacity, thereby increasing exports to India** and making India** bear more costs. This is also the reason why India wants to increase imports of green energy products from China, and India is aware that this is a huge "trap" for the United States.
On the other hand, the Financial Times and some others have dismissed India's accusations, arguing that before the US introduced the Inflation Reduction Act, India was also implementing a closed protection policy, crowding out companies, fines and overtaxing companies from other countries. They also pointed out that India's international business environment and credibility are low, which is related to its excessive protectionism, so India should "reflect on its own behavior". One commentator said: "When Western countries put forward the concept of low carbon emissions, they are actually blatantly exploiting developing countries, trying to make backward countries weaken their own development, and at the same time buy advanced green energy productivity from Europe and the United States, which is undoubtedly 'contemporary neo-colonialism'." India is now in a difficult situation when China has become a clean energy producer by investing heavily in advance, avoiding exploitation and exporting green technologies and clean energy products to Europe and the United States. ”