Opportunities seen in nuke supply chain.
Several foreign companies from various countries have shown interest in participating in the country’s nuclear power projects in various capacities such as technology partners, suppliers, contractors.
The companies include Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) and GE-Hitachi from the United States, Electricite de France (EDF) and Rosatom of Russia, Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has told Rajya Sabha on 2 August 2017.
However, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is not permitted in nuclear power sector as such options for these companies are to invest in the nuclear power supply chain.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) leads all such power developments in the country.
Any projects to be set up with foreign technical cooperation must be funded by a mix of equity and debt, with equity to be mobilised from internal resources of NPCIL.
Meanwhile, reducing costs of nuclear power is an ongoing effort, he said.
In respect of indigenously designed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), efforts include increasing unit size from 220 MW to 540 MW and further to 700 MW to gain for economies of scale.
Other efforts include standardisation, improvement in design and efficiency and optimisation of gestation period. fii-news.com