India: ‘Govt keen on allowing pvt players in nuclear power’

Even as the fate of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal hangs in the balance, the Government has favoured permitting private sector investments into nuclear power generation.

Allowing private corporate investments in the field of nuclear power has been listed out under the key policy reform measures in the Economic Survey. The survey has said that private investment in nuclear power should be subject to regulation by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Atomic Energy Commission.

Tata Power, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Energy, GMR, Essar Power and the Vedanta Group are among those in the fray for entering nuclear generation. Participation of private players in nuclear generation is, however, subject to the Government amending the Atomic Energy Act, under which currently participation in the sector is limited to Nuclear Power Corporation India Ltd and sister concern Bharathiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. It also stressed on the need to “fully exploiting the nuclear and hydro potential for power generation.”

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(Source: The Hindu)