The union cabinet permitted a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India and Uzbekistan for research and pilot projects in solar energy on Wednesday. The partnership will involve the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) from India, while the Uzbek representation will come from the International Solar Energy Institute (ISEI).

The three main areas that will be explored under the MoU are solar photovoltaic, storage technologies, and transfer of technology, a statement from MNRE said. Uzbekistan is a part of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative co-founded by India and France to address common problems pertaining to the development of solar energy, and sharing ideas and technology to further improve its implementation.

An official release said the main area of work is to identify research, demonstration and pilot projects between the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the International Solar Energy Institute (ISEI), Uzbekistan in mutually identified areas including solar photovoltaic and storage technologies. The release said that based on mutual agreement, both parties would work for implementation and deployment of pilot project in International Solar Alliance (ISA) member countries.

"Based on mutual agreement, both parties would work for implementation and deployment of pilot project in International Solar Alliance (ISA) member countries," the official statement added.