"India nuclear sector has great business potential"

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the US India Business Council (USIBC) today organized a press conference to brief on the 5-day U.S. Commercial Nuclear Mission organized from the 12th to the 16th of January at New Delhi and Mumbai. The Mission was also supported by the Nuclear Energy Institute & the US Department of Commerce and was led by Mr. Steve Hucik of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.  With more than 60 senior executives representing more than 30 world – leading commercial nuclear companies, the Mission was the first commercial nuclear trade mission to visit India since the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) approved India for global commercial nuclear trade.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Steve Hucik, Mission Leader & Leader, GE – Hitachi Nuclear said, "There is tremendous potential for business opportunities in the Nuclear Power sector in India for the US Commercial Nuclear Industry and during this mission, there have been very positive signs from the Indian Government and also the Indian Industry in partnering together in developing the nuclear reactors in India".

"The robust presence here of the US commercial nuclear industry, so soon after the unfortunate events in Mumbai, speaks on the commitment of US companies to partner with India in the coming Nuclear renaissance" said Ted Jones, Director for Policy Advocacy at USIBC.

Mr V K Chaturvedi, Co-Chairman, CII – USIBC Joint Task Force on Nuclear Power briefed on the key deliberations which the Joint Task Force had at it's meeting held in New Delhi on the 12th of January. The Joint Task Force had identified policy issues on both sides requiring attention in order for India to move towards it's ambitious goals for expanding its nuclear generating capacity to 30,000 MW by 2020 and 60,000 MW by 2030. To enable Indian and U.S. private sector companies to take part in the expansion, issues relating to nuclear liability and intellectual property protection, among others, need attention in India. On the U.S. side, the group has previously discussed U.S. export licensing procedures and potential for U.S. companies to enter into commercial relationships with Indian manufacturing, contracting and service firms.

The Confederation of Indian Industry strongly believes that there are enormous business opportunities in the Nuclear Power sector which would benefit the Utlities, Engineering, Manufacturing and the Services Industry in India. There are lot of capabilities already existing in the Indian industry in design & engineering; manufacturing of several critical parts of a reactor, safety up-gradation related services and also in the fuel fabrication industry and these companies can look at different types of business ventures with the US companies.

Mr. V.K Chaturvedi also emphasized on the need to have a Nuclear Liability Framework in India in consonance with international regimes. There is also a need for amendment to be done to the Atomic Energy Act to enable public – private partnerships in the Nuclear Power sector.

The U.S. commercial nuclear industry leads the world in size, performance, innovation, and engineering worldwide. The U.S. is the largest generator of nuclear electric power in the world, with 27% of the world's total installed capacity.