Npc Invites Industry For Kudunkulum N-Plant

The Nuclear Power Corporation will offer projects worth Rs 5,000 crore to domestic industry to build the 2000 mw Kudunkulum r plant for which an Indo-Russian accord was signed here yesterday.

Informed sources said domestic companies specialising in heavy engineering, metallurgy, construction, fabrication and erection will be involved in the project whose total cost is estimated to be Rs. 20,000 crore.

Godrej and Boyce, L&T , Walchandnagar, Jyothi Ltd and BHEL are among the firms already involved with the Nuclear Power Corporation

The sources said the NPC would prefer Indian firms to form consortia to execute specific sections.

This way the NPC's funds would not be blocked upfront and the Indian firms involvement would increase.

The Kudunkulum project's detailed project report is expected to begin by the year end after yesterday's accord.

The DPR will be prepared by the NPC and the Russian Atom Corporation, a newly set up unit to export technology.

Work on the plant is expected in about 18 months after commencement of the DPR.

Russia is to supply the design, critical equipment, technology and expertise for the plant which will be built by the NPC and its sub-contractors.

The Russians have offered to finance up to 85 per cent of the project cost through a combination of soft loans and barter. The NPC is expected to pay the balance in hard currency.

The NPC may have to approach the government for the upfront money as it cannot raise foreign funds due to the sanctions.

Even before the sanctions, international lending institutions had refused to fund the NPC's projects on grounds that India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty.

The signing of the Indo-Russian deal, when the west has imposed sanctions against India for the May 11 Pokhran blasts is an indication that Russia is solidly behind India.

The plant is of a proprietary Russian technology, the likes of which does not exist in western nations.

The advanced light water reactors are said to be over 30 per cent efficient that the heavy water reactors, the mainstay of India's nuclear power programme.