India, France review status of Jaitapur nuclear power project

India and France Saturday held discussions on deepening the bilateral strategic partnership through cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, defence, space and civil nuclear energy sectors.

French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian said he and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reviewed the status of the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) project in Jaitapur in coastal Maharashtra.

"We adopted an action plan to guide our work for the coming months so as to advance as efficiently as possible towards the final decision for building this power plant," he said.

"Six EPRs account for a total capacity of almost 10 GW, which is a significant contribution to India's aim of producing 40 per cent of its electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2030, in keeping with its commitments made ahead of the Paris Climate Conference," he added.

In March, India and France inked an an agreement to expedite the Jaitapur nuclear power plant project, with the aim of commencing work at the site by year-end.

The Indo-French nuclear agreement was signed in 2008 to build a nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, some 600 km south of Mumbai. The power plant will have six reactors with a capacity of 1,650 MW each