(As prepared for delivery)

Good morning honorable members on the dais, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you all to this workshop on “Regional Cooperation for Modernization of Power Distribution in South Asia”. 

Before I begin, I would also like to thank our partners for today, Additional Secretary Sanjay Malhotra and Joint Secretary Mritunjay Narayan of the Ministry of Power. Thank you for your leadership and long-standing partnership with USAID on power sector reforms in India.  

Welcome Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director of EESL. We are proud of our partnership with you in your transformative journey in pushing the boundaries and making things happen! Be it energy efficiency, electric vehicles or smart meters.

Among those present here today are also the power secretary from the Government of Sri Lanka, Ms. Perera, and Permanent Secretary of the Maldivian Ministry of Environment and Energy Musthafa. Your presence here is highly valued as it reconfirms support for our vision of an interconnected South Asia region. Thank you for your time and effort.