Japan agreed with India on Tuesday to support the introduction of high-efficiency coal-fired power generation and renewable energy technology in the fast-growing South Asian country.

A joint statement released by the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi and Piyush Goyal, India's minister for power, coal, new and renewable energy, said the two countries will start a joint study to help India decide on the best energy mix, or the proportion of electricity to be generated by various sources.

Hayashi and Goyal also confirmed that Tokyo and New Delhi will explore joint procurement of natural gas.

As India currently relies heavily on coal-fired thermal power, Japan will also cooperate with India on a study to reduce toxic emissions.

Japan plans to pitch its power generation equipment and technologies to India, which is seeing sharp growth in power demand and plans to increase solar and other renewable energy power generation, according to Japanese officials.

The two countries have regularly held a ministerial meeting on energy issues since 2007 and Tuesday's meeting was the eighth of its kind.