The buyer-seller meet at E3 will focus exclusively on the requirement of the non-utility segment with CEOs of smart cities, top officials of oil refineries, cement, railways, steel, etc.

Thirty-three large buyers like Powergrid, Coal India, Tata Power, Damodar Valley Corporation, CESC, West Bengal State Electricity Development Corporation Ltd are also scheduled to discuss their requirements.

Among the utilities, PGCIL will present their upcoming projects from the North East and also the new technologies which they will be highlighting.

IEEMA is the apex association of manufacturers of electrical, industrial electronics and allied equipment in India.

The event will also facilitate the MSMEs to connect with large companies and understand the procedures and compliances to do business with them.

The 3rd edition of IEEMA's eastern region flagship event “Empowering Energizing East – E3” was formally flagged off here today by Deputy Chief Minister and Power Minister of Tripura Jishnu Dev Varma.

Dev Varma said that the small north-eastern states have big challenges of geographical conditions and forest clearances in establishing 24x7 dependable power supply units.

The Tripura government and other northeastern states are investing in the power sector with investments coming from ADB and World Bank to increase capacity generation and distribution to earn revenues, he said and added that Tripura exported 160 MW of power to Bangladesh last year

"We invite the industry to be with us and share their perspectives which is very important for tackling challenges at the ground level,” Dev Varma said.

IEEMA President Vipul Ray said a modern state-of-the-art micro grid research infrastructure is highly required in India for carrying out extensive research in renewable energy as the Centre is focusing on generating more green power from sustainable renewable energy resources.

"Eastern India offers tremendous potential for infrastructure development and investment opportunities.  Thus the focus of E3 would revolve around subjects like Emerging Technologies for Electrical & Electronics Industry, smart cities and future business opportunities,” he said.

West Bengal Additional Chief Secretary S Suresh Kumar said the state government is investing around 17 lakh crore for generating 150GW of solar power by 2030.

"We need to build a collaborative association with the electrical industry so that our needs and requirements are met to match the international standards,” he stressed.

E3 2022 Chairman Siddharth Bhutoria noted that the proposed deep water port at Tajpur would be a big push for exports.

This, he said, would help eastern India to bring in companies in the renewable energy and electric vehicles (EV) manufacturing sector from across the globe.

IEEMA is in active talks with the West Bengal Government to provide 1000-acre land near the national highway for setting up a dedicated Electrical and Electronics Park which would also be a new-age hi-tech manufacturing hub.