L&T, NPCIL tie up for atomic power components

Engineering and construction major L&T and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) today announced the formation of a joint venture to produce critical components for nuclear power plants such as special steels and ultra-heavy forgings.

L&T will hold a 74 per cent stake and NPCIL 26 per cent in the JV, which will have a total authorised share capital of Rs 500 crore.

According to L&T Chairman and Managing Director A M Naik, the facility involves an investment of Rs 1,725 crore and would come up on 100 acres of land in Hazira, Gujarat. The project would be funded on a 3:1 debt-equity ratio.

The JV will supply finished forgings for nuclear reactors, pressurisers and steam generators, in addition to heavy forgings for critical equipment in the hydrocarbon sector, as well as for thermal power plants.

Nuclear-grade heavy forgings are a crucial component in the construction of nuclear reactors and there are only a few companies in the world capable of producing these.

“The company will have the capacity to produce 100,000-tonnes per annum special steel and 40,000-tonnes per annum forgings,” Naik said.

The plant will start manufacturing from April 2011.

“It (the plant) will meet indigenous demand across nuclear and thermal power and hydrocarbon sectors in the short term. However, there is a plan to start exporting from 2013,” Naik added.

NPCIL, the sole nuclear power generator in the country, currently has the capacity to produce 4,120 Mw of power through its 17 operational reactors.

This is expected to go up to 6,780 Mw by 2011 once its ongoing projects become operational. The government aims to generate 63,000 Mw of nuclear power by 2032.