The Hindu Business Line : What does it mean for pvt sector?

Chennai, Sept. 6 Two months ago as he flew to Japan for meetings with leaders of eight of the world’s developed nations, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was not forthcoming on whether the government would allow the private sector to set up nuclear power plants once the international civil nuclear cooperation deal was put in place.

He did note that the private sector had shown interest in entering the sector, but said the Government had not decided whether to open the door. “Let us first cross this hurdle (the nuclear deal) and then we will look at the possibility,” he said.

To let the private sector in, the Government has to get Parliament to amend the Atomic Energy Act under which all activities in the nuclear field remain the preserve of government entities. The private sector can supply equipment, even those as crucial as the nuclear reactor vessel, but the power plant can be operated only by a Government-controlled entity such as the Nuclear Power Corporation.

The private sector is convinced it has the capability and the maturity to build and operate nuclear power stations safely, but the current plans of the Department of Atomic Energy envisage the NPC importing 40,000 MW of nuclear capacity (almost ten times the current domestic nuclear capacity) from countries such as Russia and France.

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