India shuns piecemeal bargain for reactors, opts for bulk deal

In a significant policy shift, India has decided to negotiate future nuclear reactor deals in bulk rather than going for piecemeal bargains.
Sources said a decision to go for bulk deals has been taken with the view that it will help the country get nuclear reactors at considerably lower rates while at the same time assure investors of guaranteed returns.
This will be done for new reactors that are coming up in collaboration with foreign companies.
India plans to have six nuclear reactors in Jaitapur in Maharashtra with French collaboration.
A representative of a company which is a member of Indian Atomic Industrial Forum, which manufactures equipment for Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and its PSU, said the move will ensure guaranteed returns on their investments.

"This is a significant policy shift and it gives us an assured guarantee for the investments that we are making," said the senior executive with whose company negotiations are on to build reactors.

In March this year, French company EDF signed an MoU with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, a PSU under the DAE, for construction of six nuclear reactors in Jaitapur.
Sources said, initially the plan was to negotiate for two reactors but the government later decided to go for all six.
Similarly, negotiations for bulk purchase are also underway with WestingHouse Co, which will build six nuclear reactors in Kovadda in Andhra Pradesh.

Another set of six reactors are to come up with the help of GE Hitachi in near future.
The move is expected to bring down the cost, which has been a major hurdle in the progress of the project.
A DAE official said similar negotiations could not take place with the Russian firms which built Kudankulam units 1 and 2. Six units of KKNPP are under construction.
With nearly 20 foreign reactors expected to come up in the near future, the move will help in localisation and benefit domestic companies working in the Indian nuclear sector.
India currently has 19 working power reactors.