India’s UPNEDA, Uttar Pradesh’s renewable energy agency, has inked an MoU with the Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan to look into technology collaboration, capacity development, and funding for green hydrogen, which will add clean energy to a wider economic and cultural alliance.
The agreement was concluded at the India-Japan Investment Meet-2026, where over 200 Japanese delegates were in the country for investment talks and cultural exchanges at various places in Lucknow as well as Varanasi.
Interestingly, a 200-strong Japanese delegation has concluded a visit to Uttar Pradesh, signing a string of agreements, with the most notable among them being the tying up of the renewable energy agency of the state with Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan when it comes to green hydrogen cooperation.
The MoU and its coverage
Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency – UPNEDA entered into the MOU with Yamanashi, using the technological expertise of Japan and Yamanashi’s innovation framework, as Uttar Pradesh aims to establish a more solid foundation in green energy technologies by means of research, development of skills, and industry linkages.
Kotaro Nagasaki, the Yamanashi governor, said the collaboration will focus on green hydrogen and energy security. Both sides were eager to partner with Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, on projects that could support economic growth while also helping achieve larger global goals, he said. Nagasaki said that cooperation in energy could also help foster world peace.
The backdrop for the investment meet
It is worth noting that the MoU was one of many signed in the course of the India-Japan Investment Meet-2026 in Lucknow that saw Japanese businesses and officials coming together with the UP government to explore a spectrum of emerging sectors. The agreement reached on green hydrogen is the most technically precise pledge to come out of the event.
Varanasi being the platform
Delegation also went to Sarnath and witnessed the Ganga Aarti at Namo Ghat. Governor Nagasaki also took approximately 15 notable members of the delegation to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, where they performed prayers. The devotees chanted Har Har Mahadev to greet the Japanese visitors, and the participants of the delegation too joined in, demonstrating cultural connection between both the countries.
The cultural aspect of the visit – the backdrop of Varanasi’s Buddhist and Hindu heritage sites against economic diplomacy is indeed a deliberate combination of investment cooperation with people-to-people ties. The UP-Yamanashi partnership is part of a more extensive and fast-growing India-Japan hydrogen cooperation pattern when it comes to the national and sub-national levels.