On 8th October NITI Aayog announced the governing structure of the Indian Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF), which is jointly launched by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As a part of the Sustainable Growth pillar of the US- Indian Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP), IEMF purports to engage Indian researchers, knowledge partners, think tanks, and national and international government agencies and departments for modeling long-term energy planning.
The governing structure of IEMF would constitute an inter-ministerial and steering committee which would be convened by the NITI Aayog and headed by its CEO and comprise senior officials from different ministries. The primary function of this committee is to review the activities and provide directions and new research areas. The steering committee would comprise representatives of Government, Industry, Academia, and Policy-research organizations.
The convener of the committee will be selected on a rotational basis for two years and would act as an interface between the inter-ministerial and steering committees and the taskforce. Prayas Group, Pune, would be the first convener of the steering committee.
The Sustainable Growth Pillar brings together Indian and US researchers and decision-makers to collaborate in three focal points –energy data management, energy modeling, and promotion of low carbon technologies; IEMF concentrates on the area of energy modeling. Through the collaboration with the eminent global energy forum, IEMF aspires to learn, share, and develop in their practices.