GELS 2025 Concludes with Draft Puri Declaration, Signing of 4 MoUs

The two-day Global Energy Leaders Summit (GELS), 2025, concluded here with the launch of the Draft Puri Declaration and signing of four knowledge-partnership MoUs to strengthen India's energy transition, Odisha Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo said on Monday.

The GELS witnessed participation of a distinguished group of leaders, policymakers, industry CEOs, global experts, and researchers for a structured series of closed-door deliberations, thematic panel discussions, technical deep dives, and knowledge-sharing sessions.

The summit, aimed to boost the generation of clean energy including solar power, in the country, ended on Sunday evening.

"These engagements explored frontier issues such as AI-enabled grid security, carbon markets, advanced financing, clean-tech 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," an official statement said.

As a major outcome of GELS 2025, four strategic MoUs were signed to accelerate research, pilot projects, and clean-energy deployment across Odisha. These agreements reinforce the Summit's commitment to long-term cooperation, innovation, and institution-building.

The first MoU was signed for pilot projects in Renewable Energy. A trilateral MoU was signed among Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, GRIDCO (Grid Corporation of Odisha), and IIT Bhubaneswar to collaborate on advanced renewable-energy pilot projects and applied research.

The second was on Green Hydrogen Centre of Excellence by GRIDCO, ReNew, IIT Bhubaneswar, and Avaada Group. This will be a major initiative toward India's green hydrogen mission under which a Green Hydrogen Centre of Excellence will be established in Odisha to support R&D, demonstrations, and capacity building, it said.

A tripartite MoU was signed to jointly develop renewable-energy projects across Odisha among the NLC India Renewables Limited (NIRL), OREDA (Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency), GEDCOL (Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited).

The fourth one was a multi-agency MoU was signed between the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha (GEDCOL), and the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) to accelerate renewable-energy development and integrated planning.

Singh Deo said that based on the various discussions that took place during the two-day session, and with the inputs from the Union Power Ministry and 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," he said, adding that 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 alone and our collective promise that none will have to.

BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO of Niti Ayog, said, "The summit should be used as a platform for collaboration between states. I urge 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."