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The Indian government will propose to private firms to invest about $26 billion in their nuclear energy sector as part of a program to increase the number of energy sources that do not produce carbon dioxide emissions. Two senior Indian officials told Reuters about this.
Currently, the share of nuclear energy in the total volume of electricity generation in India is about two percent. The author of the Reuters article notes that this is the first time New Delhi has attracted private investment in nuclear energy. The implementation of the program should lead to the fact that by 2030 the share of the use of non-renewable fuels in the total capacity of the country will be at least half, compared with 42% currently.
The government is negotiating with at least five private Indian firms, including the country's largest holding company Reliance Industries, energy companies Tata Power and Adani Power, as well as mining Vedanta Ltd. It is assumed that if an agreement is reached, each company will invest 440 billion rupees (about 5.3 billion dollars) in the project. In addition, the Federal Ministry of Atomic Energy and the State Atomic Energy Corporation (Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd./NPCIL) held several rounds of discussions with private investment companies last year, the sources said.
With these investments, the Government expects to build new nuclear power production facilities totaling 11,000 megawatts (MW) by 2040. Currently, Indian nuclear power plants operated by NPCIL generate 7,500 MW. In the near future, it is planned to increase production by another 1300 MW.
Sources told the agency that, in accordance with the financing plan, private companies will invest in the construction of nuclear power plants, purchase land, water and build on territories outside the reactor complex of the stations. At the same time, the rights to build and operate stations, as well as to provide them with fuel, will belong to NPCIL, as permitted by law. It is expected that private companies will receive income from the sale of electricity, and NPCIL will manage projects for a fee.
Indian law prohibits private companies from building nuclear power plants, but allows them to supply components, equipment and sign construction contracts to operate outside reactors. The Indian Government has not achieved its targets for increasing nuclear power capacity for years, mainly because it could not ensure the supply of nuclear fuel. However, in 2010, New Delhi signed a deal with the United States for the supply of reprocessed nuclear fuel.
Strict legal restrictions prevented negotiations with foreign nuclear power plant manufacturers such as General Electric and Westinghouse. As a result, the Indian government was forced to postpone the achievement of the goal of increasing the capacity of nuclear power plants by 2,000 MW from 2020 to 2030, Reuters reports.
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Meanwhile, Rosatom State Corporation is carrying out work on the construction of the Kudankulam NPP with VVER-1000 power units located in the south of India in the state of Tamil Nadu. The technical customer is the Indian Atomic Energy Corporation. The first power unit of the Kudankulam NPP was put into commercial operation in April 2016. The second power unit was connected to the grid in August 2017. In the same year, contracts were signed between Atomstroyexport JSC (part of Rosatom Holding) and NPCIL for priority design work, operational design and supply of basic equipment for the third stage of the station. Rosatom is currently installing equipment at the reactors of the fourth and fifth power units of the Kudankulam NPP.
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When asked by Reuters, the above-mentioned Indian companies, considered as potential investors in the national nuclear energy development program, declined to comment. Government sources find it difficult to name potential contractors for the construction of new nuclear power plants. Most likely, when the project is approved, New Delhi will hold an international competition in which the Russian State Corporation Rosatom will compete with American competitors.