The city of Calcutta witnessed at similar venture - a 3 day "Business Meet on Renewable Energy" during 3 - 5th January, 1999 in Hotel Taj Bengal. The Meet was organised by Forum of Scientists, Engineers and Technologists (FOSET) with the support from Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources Government of India and West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA).

Almost 150 delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India participated in the meet to share the experience and expertise on various issues related to renewable energy sources. As many as ten (10) industries and institutions from Bangladesh joined the Meet. The Ministry of Science & Technology, govt. of Bangladesh also took keen interest in successful organisation of this event.

The meet was inaugurated by Dr. A. R. Kidwai, His Excellency Governor of West Bengal. Dr. S. K. Sen - Hon’ble Minister-in-Charge Power, S & T & NES, Govt. of West Bengal, Shri C. R. Kamalanathan - Secretary to GOI, MNES, Shri S. P. Gonchowdhury - Director, WBREDA, Shri S. P. Gupta - President, FOSET & Shri B. K. Pal - Working President, FOSET were present in the inaugural session.

Inaugurating the meet Dr. A. R. Kidwai, His Excellency Governor of W.B. stressed that production of electricity and its consumption indicates growth and prosperity of a country. He opined that - on one side we should consider to conserve Coal & Petroleum products, since we can not keep on supplying the same in the years to come. Thrust, on the other hand, should be given for large scale use of solar energy and also an appropriate technology should be developed for production of cost-effective batteries for storage of electricity thus generated. Other aspects which should be taken into account are mass production of PV (Photo Voltaic) cells. Next comes the question of harnessing Wind & Tidal Energy. Rivers on the Himalayan terrain should be controlled for producing hydel electricity & prevention of disastrous flood which affects the state severely, every year.

He praised Bhutan for successfully installing Chukha hydel proejct which also cater for certain electricity demand in the Eastern India.

Lastly he suggested to use this meet as a step towards solving energy crisis of next millennium by mutual sharing of views among neighbouring countries and encouraged FOSET for taking this laudable venture.

In his address Dr. S. K. Sen mentioned that it is a rare occasion to exchange and share our views in solving energy problems. He expressed that time has come to involve people for better understanding of the energy scenario. To explore various sources of energy, is extremely challenging & site specific. Advantage of modern Information Technology should be taken into account for solving various impediments, which appear while implementing the projects on Renewable Energy ongoing energy crisis.

Shri C. R. Kamalanathan, Secretary, MNES, GOI, described the Meet as a very successful effort and he stressed that India is the pioneer nation in the world by setting up an exclusive Ministry for Non-Conventional Energy. He further assured the delegates from neighbouring countries that Govt. of India will respond positively to any such move for mutual co-operation to promote the use of renewable energy sources. He specially mentioned that within the country, West Bengal is a trend setter in this field.

Shri S. P. Gupta, President, FOSET, delivered the welcome address, Shri S. P. Ganchaudhury, Director, WBREDA, described the theme of the Meet and the vote of thanks was conveyed by Shri B. K. Pal, Working President, FOSET.

Followed by the inaugural session - the business of the meet, initiated by the session on Opportunities for Regional Co-operation. In next two days four Business sessions were held on Wind Energy, Solar Energy, Bio-Energy and Mini-Micro Hydel. The country papers were presented by Shri J. N. Srestha, President, Solar Energy Society, Nepal, Dr. Anwar Hossain, former Chairman, Atomic Energy commission, Bangladesh, Dr. Muhtashana Hossain, President, Bangladesh Solar Energy Society, Mr. Ajit K. Gupta, Advisor, MNES, GOI, Dr. E.V.R. Sastry, Advisor, MNES, GOI, Dr. M. Eusuf, Head, Energy Division, BCAS, Dhaka, Dr. B. C. Jain, Managing Director, Ankur, Shri Biswajit Das (member-hydel), WBSEB. Prof. Sujay Bose, Jadavpur University, Dr. A. K. Barua, IACS, Shri C.R. Bhattacharya, President, SESI (ER), and Dr. Subimal Sen, Secretary, DST & NES, GoWB, conducted the sessions as Chairman. Others, who participated in the discussion, were Shri G. S. Sohal, ED, NTPC, Shri Rahul Arora, Winrock International, Shri S. L. Agarwal, M.D, WEBEL SL, Shri Tenpa Gurma, Division of Power Bhutan, Shri Niaz Rahim, M.D. Rahimefrooz, Dhaka, Shri Gautam Das, FOSET, Shri M. Daula, Micro Electronics, Dhaka, Shri I. Dey, SRI, Ranchi, Shri V. Rao, BHEL, Shri S. P. Ghosh and Shri Gautam Ray of FOSET. The representative of NRECA, USA Mr. Kent Wick also participated in the meet.

The discussions were of high quality and mainly emphasised on need on mutual co-operation for business promotion. At the end of the second day a few memorandum of Understandings were signed among :

1. It was felt, at the initial stage it is required to strengthen regional co-operation on Renewable Energy Sector by organising seminar, conferences, exchange programmes on training, field visit, feasibility study, project monitoring etc. among the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India.
2. The representatives from industries emphasised on the need of establishing formal link among the industries, NGOs and Universities to foster programmes on Human Resource Development, Technology Transfer and Collaboration and Project implementation. It was quite encouraging to note that the industries, mainly from India and Bangladesh were keen to work together and it is expected that in near future, large number of technical collaboration among these industries will take place.
3. Calcutta Meet was considered as the initial step towards establishing regional co-operation in Renewable Energy sector. Efforts will be made to organise such events in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal in near future.
4. The need for establishing a Regional institute on Renewable Energy Research & Development involving the participating countries, was felt by the delegates. It will facilitated exchange of knowledge, information, resources and expertise in this region. It will help building up Self-reliance in this sector of technology and the countries will be able to cater the need on their own.
5. The Governments of all the countries as well as SARC secretariat will be intimated about the development of this Meet and the recommendations.
6. Advanced research on frontier of technology, relevant to the field of Renewable Energy e.g. storage of electricity, maintaining quality of supply, manufacturing effecient equipments with location specificity will be given adequate thrust. Universities and R&D Organisations of this countries will be entrusted with this task.
7. Documentation on success and failure of Renewable Energy projects will be prepared and circulated, so as to provide lessons for future.