Tokyo: Japan and India, respectively the world's fourth-and fifth- heaviest energy consumers are exploring the possibility of joint investment in oil and gas projects and sales of coal-fired and nuclear power plant technology.

Japan's trade minister Akira Amari and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, Planning Commission, are expected to meet in April to discuss how this could be facilitated.

India has indicated that it wants Japanese investment to build energy-efficient power plants to meet its power requirements to sustain an annual 9-per cent economic growth, while Japanese power sector firms have expressed their desire to operate in the Indian markets.

Japan and India need to set up a legal framework to allow Toshiba to enter India's nuclear power market, Mochida said. "We're waiting for the treaty to be inked," she said.

Toshiba said in October it projects its revenue from the nuclear plant business to grow to 900 billion yen (USD 7.8 billion) by 2020 from 200 billion.

Japan and India are expected to discuss tie-ups in five areas -- electricity, energy conservation, oil and gas exploration and production, coal, and renewable fuels, such as solar power, the officials said.