Takashi Sana arrived in India, planning to invest $500 million to upgrade the power grid.

On July 2nd, during the summit between Japanese and Indian leaders in New Delhi, Takashi Sana unveiled POWERR Asia—the Asia energy cooperation framework she proposed—by securing its first major project for India: a joint financing initiative led by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), in collaboration with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Kansai Future Bank, and others, providing up to 80 billion yen in funding for the 1,200-kilometer High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission project connecting Khavda Desert renewable energy zone in Gujarat State to Nagpur. The total investment is approximately 550 billion yen, scheduled for operation by 2029. Complementary initiatives include economic security declarations covering hydrogen-ammonia cooperation, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.

Khavda is currently India’s largest wind and solar energy base, located in the west where electricity is generated, while demand centers are in central India. Existing transmission lines cannot handle the load. HVDC enables long-distance, high-capacity power transfer with low losses. Hitachi Energy (a subsidiary of Hitachi) has already secured part of the transmission and distribution equipment orders—money, standards, and equipment are all tightly tied into Japan’s supply chain.

In essence, India imports over 90% of its crude oil. With U.S. pressure on Russian oil and instability in the Middle East squeezing it from both sides, this strategy aims to shift “energy security” away from “buying oil tankers” toward “western wind and solar power + Japanese-style grids”—with Japan offering capital and technology in exchange for access to Indian markets and integration into the Quad supply chain. Underlying but unavoidable is another dimension: China also dominates overseas HVDC projects (e.g., State Grid, NARI systems). By securing the first major contract under POWERR Asia, Hitachi is entering a traditional comfort zone long dominated by Chinese ultra-high-voltage technology exports. Once this 1,200-kilometer link at Khavda becomes operational, expect Japan’s banking consortium and Hitachi to follow up with similar partnerships across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869597369613447/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.