New Delhi: Insurance regulator IRDA is in
the early stages of drafting a regulation for covering nuclear
accidents.
The move assumes significance as India is expected to be
a major player in this sector after its nuclear deal with US
is operationalised.
"We are in early stages (of the regulation). This thing
involves large amount of risks. We will have to first
constitute a pool which will be a member of the larger global
pool (of nuclear accident insurance). That is yet to be
figured out," Irda chairman J Hari Narayan said.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the IBAI summit
here, he also said that the reinsurer General Insurance
Corporation (GIC) is working on the details to provide
insurance protection to such accidents.
It is felt that the ambitious programme expected under
the Indo-US nuclear deal may not materialise to the desired
extent unless there is insurance protection for nuclear
accidents.
According to US-India Business Council (USIBC) the
Indo-US nuclear deal could open up investment opportunities to
the tune of USD 500 billion over the next decade.
As of now, nuclear power accounts for just three per cent
share of the total power produced in India from different
sources. However, by 2020 this source is expected to provide
20,000 MW of power against little over 4,000 MW currently.
PTI
