Previous Year Question
With reference to ‘International Solar Alliance’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
It is the first treaty based Inter-governmental organisation headquartered in India with 38 member countries.
World Solar Bank and One Sun One World One Grid Initiative were initiated under it.
Select the correct answer from the code given below:
Only 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Both 1 and 2
Only 1
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is incorrect. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was jointly launched by India and France on 30 November 2015 during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) held in Paris. It is the first Treaty-Based Intergovernmental Organization headquartered in India, with its headquarters located in Gurugram, Haryana. Its Framework Agreement was opened for signature on 15 November 2016 and entered into force on 6 December 2017. However, the number of its member countries is not 38. According to a parliamentary reply issued by the Government of India in December 2024, by October 2024, 120 countries had signed the ISA Framework Agreement, of which 104 had become full members.
Statement 2 is correct. The proposal to establish the World Solar Bank (WSB) and the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative were introduced under the International Solar Alliance. The World Solar Bank was conceptualized to mobilize financial resources for solar energy projects, particularly to increase investment in developing countries and reduce the cost of solar technologies. In October 2020, the Third Assembly of the ISA supported the establishment of the proposed bank and constituted an International Steering Committee to develop its framework. It is important to distinguish between the World Solar Bank initiative and a fully established and operational bank. India's Economic Survey 2020–21 also presented the World Solar Bank and OSOWOG as two major initiatives of the ISA.
The One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) concept was presented during the First Assembly of the ISA in October 2018. Its primary objective is to interconnect Electricity Grids across different countries and regions to enable cross-border transmission of solar and other Renewable Energy. The initiative is based on utilizing the availability of sunlight across different Time Zones so that solar electricity generated in one region can meet the energy requirements of another. On 2 November 2021, India and the United Kingdom jointly launched the Green Grids Initiative–One Sun One World One Grid (GGI–OSOWOG) during COP26 in Glasgow. The ISA plays an important role in the development and international coordination of this initiative.
The primary objective of the International Solar Alliance is to promote large-scale Solar Energy Deployment, Energy Security, Energy Access, and Clean Energy Transition. The ISA aims to facilitate approximately USD 1 trillion in investments in the solar energy sector by 2030. To achieve this, it emphasizes Technical Cooperation, Capacity Building, solar project development, and reducing financial barriers among member countries. Initially, its membership was primarily focused on countries located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. However, following the entry into force of an amendment to its Framework Agreement in 2020, membership was opened to all United Nations member countries.