Britain, India to work on low-carbon ideas: Prince Andrew

Kolkata, March 12 : British academia and industry will work with India to develop new low-carbon initiatives in the manufacturing sector, Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth of Britain, said here Friday.

He said the India-Britain industrial forum were developing new initiatives on sustainable manufacturing solutions.

"Through the initiative, UK academia and industry are working with Indian partners to exchange ideas on low-carbon, low-resources manufacturing solutions," he said.

"The shift is towards low-carbon as it represents a huge economic opportunity for Britain by offering huge cost savings to business and public sector in the form of energy and resources efficiency," Andrew said at an interactive session 'UK-India Business Partnership: Low Carbon Economy' by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Andrew, the fourth in line of succession to the British throne after his elder brother Prince Charles and his two sons, said the countries can develop economic ties on developing cleaner coal technology, steel industry and low-carbon automotive technologies.

"The UK is the world's global hub for low-carbon technologies ...there are a number of sectors such as wind, wave and solar energy, in which the UK is already active in India and where there is a scope for better collaboration," Andrew said.

On prominent educational institutions in Britain, Andrew said: "The track record of Cambridge and Oxford Universities and Imperial College London in commercialising their research and transferring it from the lab bench to the market place is among the best in the world."