By IANS,
New Delhi : There are no plans to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) or domestic private sector participation in the generation of nuclear energy as the sector was “extremely sensitive”, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said Wednesday.
“The government has no proposal to allow FDIs and domestic private sector participation in generation of nuclear energy, given the sensitivity of the sector. The first challenge would be to pass the Nuclear Civil Liability Bill with a collaborative approach,” Chavan said at an event organised by the industry forum, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
“After the bill is through, the government would be able to create conditions to forge alliances between domestic power sector companies and their counterparts overseas,” Chavan said at the Conference on Nuclear Energy: Need for Legal & Regulatory Framework for Investment.
Chavan said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has ambitious plans to import equipment to expand its indigenous nuclear generation power programme from countries like France, Russia and the United States.
“The imports will be subject to conditions that suppliers would have to take the entire risk for meeting emergency requirements which can be possible provided the Nuclear Civil Liability Bill has a smooth passage in parliament,” the minister explained.