Australia has already played an important role in providing adequate supplies to India’s coal based thermal plants, he told Australia’s Minister for Resources Josh Frydenberg in Canberra yesterday.

“We are now looking at increased engagement on uranium, gas is going to be the next enabler for cleaner technology for our power production,” Goyal said. “In my mind, the last two days and what I have seen in terms of the work that Australia has done in renewable energy, I was amazed you started talking about renewables and researching way back in 1974 at the New South Wales University.

“It really reflects a deep understanding of the future, the fact that the university set up a school of excellence in photovoltaics.

“But if you look at the overall perspective, I think across the value chain in energy, be it coal or gas, be it the renewable energy sector, be it smart grids or the ability to bring in more efficiency in our energy systems, the integration of renewables with the power transmission grid, there are many areas that I believe we can work together with Australia on.”

Frydenberg said India is a major player in the global energy markets, too, being the world’s third largest consumer of energy.

“I was interested to read how energy demand has doubled in your country since 2000 and by some predictions will quadruple over the coming decade and it was very interesting to read how you’re going to strengthen your commitment to renewable energy, quadrupling the amount of energy from that source by 2022,” he said.