California-India Collaboration

There already exists a strong precedence for a California-India ZEV Policy Collaboration with similar efforts in other sectors having been done in the past. In 2013, the India-California Air Mitigation Pollution Program (ICAMP) was launched jointly by the University of California at San Diego, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in India, the California Air Resources Board, and the World Bank, with a focus on transport emissions. In 2014, the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the California Energy Commission, and the California Public Utilities Commission signed an MoU with the Forum of Regulators, Government of India (which comprises of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and all the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions in India), to promote collaboration in the areas of electricity demand and supply and efficiency improvement. In 2016, the State of Telangana in India and the State of California, USA, signed an MoU for cooperation in various sectors including business innovation, alternative energy and education. More recently, in 2020, there has been a renewed effort of expanding California-India cooperation, marked by the visit of a high-level delegation from the State of California led by the Lieutenant Governor. Both India and California share a strong culture of innovation and the convergence of the Bay Area Silicon Valley with the Indian technology industry has been testament to that. In this new age of climate cooperation, the potential for convergence and innovation in ZEV transition policies between India and California can open the doors for a renewed partnership.