France to set up first two of 6 nuke reactors in Maharashtra

France today became the first country to sign agreements to set up nuclear reactors in India, two years after the country's nuclear isolation prompted by Pokhran tests in 1998, ended.

Five path-breaking agreements to establish first two of the six reactors in Jaitapur in Maharashtra at a cost of approx $25 billion were inked in the presence of visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who paved the way for that during their talks over dinner yesterday.

Besides, a General Framework Agreement for building the European Pressure Reactors, signed between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and French company Areva, the two sides also inked pacts for Early Works Agreement for implementation of EPR units at Jaitapur and confidentiality and Intellectual Property Rights.

However, operationalisation of the agreement will take some time as negotiations on technical issues like pricing are still underway.

"The framework agreement has been signed between Areva and NPCIL. There are issues with regard to other technical matters including pricing. These are subject matter of negotiations," Singh told reporters at a joint press conference with Sarkozy.

Following India’s enactment of a civil nuclear liability legislation, both countries stand ready to further exchange views on this issue so as to ensure the appropriate framework for the sound development of their cooperation, a joint statement, issued after the meeting, said.

Noting the innovative, broad-based and dynamic nature of their partnership in the field of civil nuclear energy cooperation, France and India welcome the progress towards further strengthening cooperation between the two countries including in research and development and in setting up joint nuclear power projects, it said.

India and France also signed two agreements--one pertaining to co-production of films and other in the field of Earth System Sciences and Climate cooperation.

Singh and Sarkozy also decided to work for doubling bilateral trade to 12 billion Euros by 2012, much of which is expected to be propelled by enhanced cooperation in the fields of civil nuclear energy and civil aviation.

Singh and Sarkozy held extensive talks on a host of issues like enhancement of bilateral ties in a wide range of areas such as defence, counter-terrorism, space, science and technology besides discussing the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.