India to join building Rooppur nuclear plant

India has said it is collaborating with Russia to build the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh.

This will be India's first atomic energy venture abroad and first such collaboration on an atomic energy project in a third country.

"We are collaborating with our Russian and Bangladeshi partners on establishing the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh," India's Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Sekhar Basu said at the 61st general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Wednesday, according to an official copy of his speech made available in New Delhi.

Sekhar Basu's speech, however, did not clarify the type of "collaboration" India was undertaking with Russia.

New Delhi is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group -- a 48-nation group that controls the export of materials, equipment and technology. 

The Indian nuclear establishment has not been able to grow internationally for years due to sanctions imposed by several countries on New Delhi following the 1974 Pokhran nuclear tests.

India and Bangladesh signed three MoUs on cooperation in the civil nuclear sector during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in April this year.

Under the MoUs, the two sides can collaborate in manufacturing equipment and material for the atomic power plant.

According to an understanding titled “Strategic Vision for Strengthening Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy”, reached between India and Russia in December 2014, the "two sides will explore opportunities for sourcing materials, equipment and services from Indian industry for the construction of the Russian-designed nuclear power plants in third countries".

The Rooppur project, which is being built by Russia, will be Bangladesh's first atomic energy project. With the completion of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Bangladesh will be the third South Asian country after India and Pakistan to harness energy from atomic fission.