Civil Nuclear Trade
Executives of US firms in India for $100b deals
Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
Even before the US Congress passed the historic legislation allowing civil nuclear trade with India, senior executives of American companies engaged in nuclear energy business landed in the country where atomic power production could yield contracts estimated at worth 100 billion dollars, industry analysts said.The executives from 25 companies, engaged in nuclear energy business ranging from supply of equipment to fuel processors, were in Mumbai, India's financial capital, last week, looking for opportunities after the US Senate and the House of Representatives passed the landmark civilian nuclear cooperation bill which ends three decades of New Delhi's isolation from international order in the sector. The delegation of executives of US companies in nuclear energy business were drawn from companies like General Electric Co and Westinghouse Electric Co, which manufacture nuclear reactors, construction major Bechtel and fuel processing company Thorium Power Inc. Some Russian companies are already building a nuclear power plant in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Analysts said private players may soon get exploration and mining rights for nuclear material in India after Indian Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said on November 26 that the government is working on broadening the Atomic Energy Act of 1962 to allow private participation in nuclear power sector. India, whose fast-growing economy needs vast sources of energy, now has 3,900MW nuclear energy capacity and another 3,380MW is set to be added by 2010, Kakodkar said.
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