Three cleantech deals signed during India trade mission

Westport Innovations natural gas engines. Photo: Westport

OTTAWA — Three Canadian cleantech companies have signed deals with Indian partners during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trade mission to India.

The deals involve advanced battery developer Electrovaya in Toronto, paper manufacturer Prairie Pulp and Paper in Winnipeg, and Vancouver-based Westport Innovations, a manufacturer of alternative fuel emissions technology.

Prairie Pulp & Paper, which makes tree-free paper from other biomaterials such as straw, has signed a technology research and transfer agreement with India’s Central Pulp & Paper.

Westport Innovations will work with New Delhi’s Technology Action for Rural Advancement to improve air quality and access to electricity in rural India. The project will see natural gas in mobile phone-tower generators and provide residual power to off-grid communities.

Westport will also work with Mumbai’s Tata Motors to develop a natural-gas engine and related technologies.

Electrovaya will work with Bhaskar Solar of Kolkata to implement renewable energy management solutions for telecom towers spanning India, and provide lithium ion batteries for the electric vehicles made by Hero Eco of New Delhi.

No financial details were released.

The companies have received support from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to commercialize their technologies.