Tatas await govt nod to foray into N-power

Tata Power Company (TPC), the country's largest private sector power utility, on Saturday said it is preparing the groundwork for making a foray into nuclear power sector and is awaiting the government to open up the sector to private players.

"We have formed a core group to explore the possibilities of entering into nuclear power sector and are training our employees for the foray as nuclear engineering is a complex business. However, I don't see the government opening up the sector in the next three-four years," Prasad Menon, managing director of TPC, said. He was speaking on the sidelines of synchronisation of a 250-MW thermal unit of TPC at its Trombay facility near Mumbai. The function was attended by Union minister of state for power Jairam Ramesh and Maharashtra's energy minister Sunil Tatkare.

On allowing private companies into nuclear power space, Ramesh said the government would like to see the stabilisation of joint ventures between Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and public sector power generators.

He said, Atomic Energy Commission will meet on Monday to decide on a proposed joint venture between NPCIL and NTPC, in which NPCIL will hold 51 per cent and NTPC the remaining 49 per cent.

About NPCIL's proposal to set up a 6,000-MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Ramesh said, "If the project moves as per schedule it will be the first Indo-French cooperation in the field of nuclear energy."

The synchronisation of unit-VIII of the 250-MW facility will take the total capacity of TPC's Trombay facility to 1,600 MW. Out of the 250 MW generated, 100 MW will be used by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking -- which provides power to Mumbai --, 50 MW will be available for bulk consumers of TPC such as railways, airports and water treatment plants, and 100 MW will be sold on merchant-basis through Tata Power Trading Company.