CHANDIGARH: Baroness Sandip Verma, parliamentary under secretary, department of energy and climate change, United Kingdom, on Thursday said that developing indigenous solar panels in Punjab in collaboration with British companies, to bridge the state's energy gap, is a key area where a tie-up looked feasible.
Verma said the issue was discussed during her meeting with deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal and Punjab had expressed keen interest in this area. "But if the state still has to depend on thermal units, it is important to ensure that clean coal is used, so as to minimize harm to the environment," she said.
In the case of food processing, she said there were possibilities of providing farmers with processing or storage facilities for perishable goods. "This is a key area of concern and there is need to introduce technology," she said. Verma also underlined how the three states could learn from UK in bringing down emission levels with community participation. Apart from Punjab, UK was looking at similar collaborations with Haryana and Rajasthan.
"Though India is comfortably placed in skills training at the basic level, the country, especially northern states of Punjab and Haryana, lack specialized skill sets which are imperative to enable them achieve their future goals, including the new government's dream project -- Make in India campaign," she said.
"UK is committed to share its best practices and expertise in technical and vocational education, to help Punjab and Haryana achieve desired skill objectives. We can open joint centres of excellence or host delegations in both countries," added Verma.
"UK wants to really strengthen ties with Punjab and Haryana. We would work together in areas like women empowerment, climate change and energy," said David Lelliott, deputy high commissioner, British deputy high commission, Chandigarh.
India connection
Born in Amritsar and married to a Delhite, Verma said despite her long stay in UK, she still felt like an Indian. "I spent all my life in UK, but there is a part of me that is much attached. UK and India share a history and World War I is one such chapter. My grandfather had fought the war as a captain in the army at that time and it makes me proud," she said, adding that it recently came out that her husband's ancestors were from Rajasthan and this had prompted the desert state to adopt her as its daughter-in-law.
