'Work on Jaitapur project likely to begin in 2 yrs'

Spurred by two agreements signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to France, work on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant is likely to start in the next two years, senior French government officials have said.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Areva had last month during Modi's visit to France signed a pre-engineering agreement that discussed technical and financial modalities on how to take the project forward.
Areva had also signed an agreement with Larsen & Toubro under which equipment could be built for reactors.
The pre-engineering agreement will not only help in the financial and technical optimisation of the project but will also contribute towards addressing the licensability of the reactors as per the guidelines of the Indian regulator, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

The agreement between Areva and L&T, on the other hand, will help in localisation efforts.
"We hope to manufacture 50 per cent of the equipment required for the reactor in India. Since there are six reactors coming up, we hope to take the manufacturing to 75 per cent in later stages," said Sunil Felix, nuclear counsellor with the French Embassy here.

He said that with the localisation of the equipment, the cost, which is a major issue between the two parties, will come down significantly.
India has already told France that it cannot move ahead if the cost per unit shoots up to Rs 6.50 per unit.

Asked as to when the work on the project would start, Felix said, "It should take two years for the work to start on the ground. The Indian government is also addressing the liability issue, so even that is being taken care of."
NPCIL has already acquired land at the Jaitapur site in Maharashtra and has built the basic necessary structures. Fencing has also been done at the site, where six reactors with a capacity of 1,650MW each are expected to come up.