India to produce 35,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020

beta.thehindu.com
March 21, 2010

India is expected to produce 35,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020, a senior official from Atomic Energy Commission said. "The total nuclear power generation of India is expected to reach 35,000 MW by 2020," Atomic Energy Commission Chairman and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Director, S. Banerjee, told PTI on the sidelines of a function conducted by Jadavpur University Alumni Association Mumbai Branch (JUAAM), on nuclear power.

"But the nuclear power will account for less than 10 per cent of the total demand in 2020, as by that time, demand for power will have reached 35,000 MW-40,000 MW," he said. He said that India'a nuclear power generation program needs support from the private sector as well. "It's a wrong notion that only Government is doing all activities in the nuclear power program. We need the industry support also. TCS, an IT company under Tatas, are our partner for decades," Mr. Banerjee said.

He, however, said that the private players can play only a minor role in power generation. "The present Atomic Energy Act allows private parties to be only the minor stakeholders in generation of power. No private company can jump into the production which does not have the expertise. A lot of safety and security concerns are there," he said. He said now there are many joint ventures in the pipeline, including that of private-public partnership model, for nuclear power.

"NTPC has already signed an agreement with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for nuclear power generation. There are a lot of activities going on and companies like Nalco have also come forward for production of nuclear power," he said. Recently, L&T and NPCIL together announced a joint venture for equipment manufacturing, where L&T owns the controlling stake, he added.