New Delhi: Crossing a significant milestone,
the Indo-French civil nuclear agreement was unanimously
adopted by the French Parliament, paving way for companies to
build nuclear power plants in India.
The French National Assembly on Tuesday adopted a law
authorising the ratification of the Cooperation Agreement
between India and France on the Development of Peaceful Uses
of Nuclear Energy, a French Embassy statement said.
The French Senate had adopted the law on October 15.
"The unanimous vote by both Assemblies is an important
milestone in the development of the civilian nuclear
cooperation between France and India," the statement said.
France was the first country to sign a civil nuclear
cooperation agreement with India within days of the lifting of
the international nuclear trade embargo on India last year.
French nuclear supplier Areva has been allocated the
nuclear project site at Jaitapur in Maharashtra to initially
build two power plants.
The India-specific waiver of the nuclear transfer
guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group was issued on
September 6 and the agreement with France was signed on
September 30.
The ratification of the agreement by French Parliament
will enable its early implementation, the statement said.
-PTI
First Published: Friday, November 27, 2009, 14:46