Govt to contribute Rs 600 cr to nuclear pool

The government would contribute Rs 600 crore to the proposed Rs 1,500-crore nuclear insurance pool that will be launched by Atomic Energy Commission chairman R K Sinha here on June 12, a senior official of GIC Re said today.
"We have commitment from the government for Rs 600 crore for the Rs 1,500-crore nuclear insurance pool. Already four state-owned non-life general insurers have committed Rs 450 crore while GIC Re alone is chipping in with Rs 300 crore, and the remaining Rs 150 crore is being contributed by seven private players," a senior GIC Re official told PTI requesting anonymity.

However, it could not be confirmed from the Finance Ministry.
The pool is likely to cover the hot zones of all the 10 nuclear power plants in the country which are run by Nuclear Power Corporation.
Some of the major private sector general insurers which have committed to contribute for the pool include ICICI Lombard, Tata AIG and Reliance General.
"We are among a very few private sector non-life insurers who have committed for the pool. Though we are small company our board is of the view that we must participate in the nation-building programme like the nuclear pool," Tata AIG General Insurance chief executive K K Mishra told PTI.

Of late some global reinsurers have also evinced their interest in contributing to the pool, said the official but refused to divulge more details. Earlier they were not ready to chip citing the laws don't permit them to conduct inspection of plants to provide reinsurance covers.

However, the scenario changed after the visit of US President Barrack Obama in January, he added.
The cold zones of all the nuclear power plants in the country are already covered. However, it is for the first time that the hot zone of these plants will also be insured through the proposed pool.
The largest life insurer LIC is also likely to participate in the catastrophe bond which is likely to be issued by GIC Re for the pool.

"We are also planning to issue catastrophic bond for the pool and we are already in discussion with LIC for the bond," the official said.