GELS 2025, India's first COP-style platform for clean energy, concluded in Puri with the presentation of the draft Puri Declaration and the signing of four strategic MoUs to strengthen India's energy transition and accelerate deployment in Odisha.
GELS 2025, designed as India's first COP-style platform for interstate coordination on clean energy, concluded with the presentation of the draft Puri Declaration and the signing of four strategic knowledge-partnership MoUs to strengthen India's energy transition, as per an official release.
The two-day summit ended with a high-level press briefing addressed by Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Deputy Chief Minister (Energy, Agriculture & Farmers' Empowerment), Government of Odisha; Vishal Kumar Dev, Principal Secretary, Energy and Electronics & IT; and Vivek Agarwal, Country Head, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. According to the official release, GELS 2025 brought together senior policymakers, industry CEOs, global experts, researchers, and think tank partners for structured, closed-door deliberations, thematic panels, technical deep dives, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
The discussions spanned frontier issues including AI-enabled grid security, carbon markets, advanced financing, cleantech innovation, and institutional reforms. Collectively, these deliberations have laid the groundwork for a long-term, collaborative platform that will guide India's energy sector toward a clean, resilient, and innovation-driven future.
Four Strategic MoUs to Accelerate Clean Energy
As a major outcome of GELS 2025, four strategic MoUs were signed to accelerate research, pilot projects, and clean-energy deployment across Odisha. As per the release, these agreements reinforce the Summit's commitment to long-term cooperation, innovation, and institution-building.
The first MoU, between Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore, GRIDCO, and IIT Bhubaneswar, aims to advance renewable energy pilot projects and applied research. The second MoU, signed by GRIDCO, ReNew, IIT Bhubaneswar, and Avaada, establishes a Green Hydrogen Centre of Excellence in Odisha to support R&D, demonstrations and capacity building. The third MoU formalises a renewable energy partnership between NLC India and Renewables Ltd (NIRL), OREDA, and GEDCOL, while the fourth agreement, between SECI, OHPC, GEDCOL, and OREDA, creates a multi-agency framework to accelerate renewable energy development and integrated planning across Odisha.
Puri Declaration to Guide India's Energy Transition
Based on the discussions during the two-day session and inputs from the Union Power Ministry and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, a draft of the Puri Declaration was presented, marking a significant step toward building an enduring, cooperative framework for India's clean energy transition.
The draft Puri Declaration has already been circulated to States for consultation and consensus-building, ensuring that the final declaration is truly co-authored and collectively owned. Thanking the visiting dignitaries and expressing optimism for the way forward for the Puri Declaration, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo said, "The process of consensus for the Puri declaration is underway and once done, it will be a collective admission that no one state can go it alone and our collective promise that none will have to."
Leaders Applaud Collaborative Platform
BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO of Niti Ayog, congratulated the Odisha government for leading a summit of this scale and significance. "The summit should be used as a platform to exchange information between states," he said and urged the hosts to organise it every year, assuring that participation and engagement will only increase as states see value in a collaborative platform of this kind.
Vishal Dev emphasised that GELS 2025 "demonstrated a clear appetite among States and institutions for coordinated action and shared frameworks," adding that the Summit's outcomes reflect a consensus on the structural reforms required over the coming decade.
Offering the vote of thanks, Professor Anoop Singh, noted that "GELS has lived up to its promise as a platform where leaders don't just discuss challenges; they co-create solutions."
Setting a Sustainability Benchmark
As per the release, GELS 2025 also reaffirmed its strong sustainability commitment. The Summit has been organised in accordance with ISO 20121 - an external sustainability partner is conducting Event Sustainability Management Systems and a complete carbon footprint assessment.
All greenhouse-gas emissions generated during the event will be measured, verified, and neutralised through monitored local afforestation initiatives--positioning GELS as one of India's first major energy conferences to be designed for carbon neutrality. GELS has set an example by being the first event in Odisha to achieve carbon neutrality successfully. The total carbon footprint of the event has been calculated as 45.33 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which covers the entire gamut of activities, including international flights. This has been achieved through the planting of 1,130 trees in Nuapada, which began today.
Future Outlook: Sustained National Action
As GELS 2025 drew to a close, leaders reiterated that this is only the beginning. The Puri Declaration will now serve as the guiding framework for ongoing working groups, interstate coordination mechanisms, and annual follow-ups, ensuring that the momentum generated at Puri translates into sustained national action. With Odisha at the helm, India is poised to advance a coordinated, competitive, and inclusive clean-energy transformation that supports the nation's long-term development and Net Zero Ambition. (ANI)
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