India needs nuke deal with US: Chidambaram

BERLIN: Flagging the point that India was energy deprived, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Indo-US nuclear deal is premised on the understanding that India needs to source every form of power.

It is India's intention to develop thermal, hydro-electric and nuclear energy to meet its shortfalls and "the India-US agreement on civil nuclear cooperation is also premised on the understanding that India needs to source every form of power," Chidambaram said while stoutly defending the nuke deal.

The Finance Minister, who is on a three-day visit to Germany, was speaking at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung here on "India at 60 - Domestic Reforms to Global Responsibility."

Outlining India's approach to issues concerning energy security, environment and climate change, Chidambaram noted that India is an energy deficient country.

"The Indian people are energy deprived. In 2006-07, we produced 662.52 billion units of energy from all sources for a population of over a billion people.

"We have to explore every option available to us to produce or procure energy. While we are profoundly concerned about environmental degradation and climate change, we cannot accept a situation that will deny to our people, forever, the fruits of development."

He said, "Energy is the sine qua non of development, and the three well known source are thermal, hydro-electric and nuclear. It is our intention to develop these sources in a manner that is consistent with preserving and protecting the environment."