The government has promised business worth Rs 100,000 crore ($20 billion) to US companies for supplying nuclear equipment, as it looks to return the favour to Washington for pushing through a civilian nuclear deal that helped end decades of international nuclear apartheid against India last year, senior central government functionaries and officials closely involved with the process said.
“This is our commitment in lieu of the nuclear deal we signed with the US. This deal is a kind of quid pro quo,” said a government official, who asked not to be identified given the sensitivities around the issue. The official said that India will buy US-made nuclear reactors to produce at least 10,000 mw of power in the near future.
The proposed deal with the US could mean that recent contracts with French firms for supplying nuclear reactors would be the last of such deals and US firms such as GE and Westinghouse could become the beneficiaries of future Indian contracts.
Last week, India signed deals worth Rs 46,000 crore with French companies for the supply of six nuclear reactors. Top French nuclear power company Areva signed a deal with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), which will see it providing technical co-operation for two 1,600 mw European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) for a plant to come up at Jaitapur along the Maharashtra-Konkan coast. The deal worth $10.3 billion is one of the first deals since India’s nuclear apartheid ended last year.
NPCIL currently operates 17 nuclear energy plants that produce close to 4,000 mw of electricity, with work already in progress on another 2,600 mw. India has set itself a target of generating 30,000 mw by way of nuclear power by 2020, and wants to double that by 2030, as it looks to generate clean power to fuel its energystarved economy.
Co-operation from the US has been critical for India’s nuclear sector. “India will return the favour by giving big business to US companies,” said the government official, adding that all future nuclear deals will now go to US companies.
In case of the Jaitapur project, NPCIL will contribute 30% of the equity, while the rest will be raised through sources including loans from multilateral agencies. The project is expected to secure environmental clearance soon.
A study by the Konkan Agriculture University has concluded that the proposed project will not affect the region’s biodiversity. The Konkan university, which was engaged by National Environment Engineering Research Institute, studied an area falling within a 26-km radius of the project site. The findings of the survey have been submitted to the government.
The state government has been asked to expedite land acquisition for the proposed project. Once it becomes operational, it will be the second atomic power generating centre in Maharashtra after Tarapur, which houses India’s first nuclear power generators.
India to ink uranium supply deal
Close on the heels of entering into a nuclear deal with French power major Areva, India is set to sign a contract with a leading Russian company for 2000 metric tonne of uranium pellets on Wednesday here. The Department of Atomic Energy, which is in urgent need for fuel for its indigenous civil nuclear reactors, will enter into contract with TVEL Corp for buying uranium pellets for $780 million, DAE sources said.
This will be the second such contract signed by the department after the Nuclear Supplier’s Group gave green signal in September last year. This contract will be for a long-term delivery, may be over a period of 10 years, the sources said. Russia had earlier supplied fuel for the US-built Tarapur Atomic Power stations which will exhaust soon. In December 2008, DAE signed a contract with Areva for 300 metric tonne of uranium.
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