8 reactors from US, Russia & France soon
With the bilateral agreements with the US and France in place, India will now step up commercial negotiations for import of nuclear reactors and fuel with firms from France, Russia, US and other countries.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: With the bilateral agreements with the US and France in place, India will now step up commercial negotiations for import of nuclear reactors and fuel with firms from France, Russia, US and other countries.
Even before the NSG waiver and US Congress ratification of the 123 agreement was obtained, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India had started preliminary dialogue, including technical discussions, with US, French and Russian companies for civilian nuclear cooperation. For now, India is looking at sourcing eight reactors from these companies.
Russian firm Atomstroy Export is in talks with NPCIL for four additional nuclear reactors in Kudankulum. Areva, which has been seriously scouting the market in the last year or so, has announced that it is in talks for selling two third-generation European Pressurised Reactors and a supply of nuclear fuel to India. NPCIL is also is talks with Westinghouse and GE.
But there are many other private entities that are eyeing the market and are waiting for all the pieces in the nuclear puzzle to fall into place. In all, 15 nuclear firms from the US have expressed an interest in doing business in India. And 35 firms from France have expressed their interest in entering the civilian nuclear field in a variety of areas.
Even Indian firms are gearing up for the opening of the sector that is expected to generate millions of dollar worth of business. Though the nuclear industry is not open to private players, the government is now expected to bring in the necessary changes for the entry of private Indian players. In anticipation, Indian firms have started leasing with companies already engaged in the civilian nuclear sector.
``We are expecting 60,000 megawatts of electricity to be developed from nuclear source and that would be 97 billion euro. You can imagine how much of business it will create. In the second phase, 27% of India���s electricity needs will come from nuclear power. The size of the business can be best estimated by the quantum of energy,������ said Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) secretary general Amit Mitra. He said the sheer size of business opportunities would ensure that business would be attracted to the civilian nuclear sector.
For now, the Indian plan is to import at least eight 1,000 megawatt power reactors by 2012 and many others later. At present, India has 17 operating power reactors with seven under construction.
India and Russia are poised to sign an agreement for supply of four more nuclear reactors for Kudankulum and also other reactors. The agreement will be signed when Russian president Dmitry Medvedev travels to India in December. Sources said a large Russian delegation will be coming to India in October for the first uploading of the uranium, which was supplied early this year, into one of the Kudunkulum reactors.
With France and India signing the framework agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation, the path is now clear for French companies.
As far as the US is concerned, the Indian government, which clearly will not let down US President George W Bush, has provided the US with a strong letter of intent to buy from US firms reactors with at least 10,000 MW worth of power generation capacity and committed two sites to US firms.
The US estimates that 3,000 to 5,000 direct jobs and 10,000 to 15,000 indirect jobs would be created and billions of dollars generated for US firms with just two reactor contracts. Estimates on the kind of business that is likely to be generated by the nuclear deal range up to $100 billion for the next 10 years.
Even before the NSG waiver and US Congress ratification of the 123 agreement was obtained, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India had started preliminary dialogue, including technical discussions, with US, French and Russian companies for civilian nuclear cooperation. For now, India is looking at sourcing eight reactors from these companies.
Russian firm Atomstroy Export is in talks with NPCIL for four additional nuclear reactors in Kudankulum. Areva, which has been seriously scouting the market in the last year or so, has announced that it is in talks for selling two third-generation European Pressurised Reactors and a supply of nuclear fuel to India. NPCIL is also is talks with Westinghouse and GE.
But there are many other private entities that are eyeing the market and are waiting for all the pieces in the nuclear puzzle to fall into place. In all, 15 nuclear firms from the US have expressed an interest in doing business in India. And 35 firms from France have expressed their interest in entering the civilian nuclear field in a variety of areas.
Even Indian firms are gearing up for the opening of the sector that is expected to generate millions of dollar worth of business. Though the nuclear industry is not open to private players, the government is now expected to bring in the necessary changes for the entry of private Indian players. In anticipation, Indian firms have started leasing with companies already engaged in the civilian nuclear sector.
``We are expecting 60,000 megawatts of electricity to be developed from nuclear source and that would be 97 billion euro. You can imagine how much of business it will create. In the second phase, 27% of India���s electricity needs will come from nuclear power. The size of the business can be best estimated by the quantum of energy,������ said Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) secretary general Amit Mitra. He said the sheer size of business opportunities would ensure that business would be attracted to the civilian nuclear sector.
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For now, the Indian plan is to import at least eight 1,000 megawatt power reactors by 2012 and many others later. At present, India has 17 operating power reactors with seven under construction.
India and Russia are poised to sign an agreement for supply of four more nuclear reactors for Kudankulum and also other reactors. The agreement will be signed when Russian president Dmitry Medvedev travels to India in December. Sources said a large Russian delegation will be coming to India in October for the first uploading of the uranium, which was supplied early this year, into one of the Kudunkulum reactors.
With France and India signing the framework agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation, the path is now clear for French companies.
As far as the US is concerned, the Indian government, which clearly will not let down US President George W Bush, has provided the US with a strong letter of intent to buy from US firms reactors with at least 10,000 MW worth of power generation capacity and committed two sites to US firms.
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The US estimates that 3,000 to 5,000 direct jobs and 10,000 to 15,000 indirect jobs would be created and billions of dollars generated for US firms with just two reactor contracts. Estimates on the kind of business that is likely to be generated by the nuclear deal range up to $100 billion for the next 10 years.
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