Mumbai: The process to build the first
nuclear power plants at a cost of Rs 33,000 crore after
India`s re-entry into global nuclear trade will be set into
motion with the beginning of land acquisition tomorrow at
Jaitapur in coastal Maharashtra.
French company Areva will be setting up the 1650 MW
European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) in collaboration with
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for which
agreement has been reached with international investors.
To begin with, Areva will build two EPRs of 1650 MW each
at Jaitapur, the site allocated to the French company by the
government to set up a nuclear park as per the Indo-French
civil nuclear cooperation agreement inked last year.
The project cost for the two EPRs is pegged at an
estimated Rs 33,000 crore of which Rs 15,000 crore will come
from external credit assistance, NPCIL Chairman and Managing
Director S K Jain told reporters here.
The ECA will be from a consortium of five French banks,
including BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, HSBC and Calyon.
Jain said although the land acquisition process in
Jaitapur will begin from tomorrow, the statutory and
environment clearances and public hearing are expected to
happen soon.
While NPCIL would infuse an equity of Rs 10,000 crore for
the Jaitapur project, the remaining amount will be borrowed
from both Indian and French financial institutions, he said.
Both India and France have agreed to set up six units of
EPRs over the next 12 to 15 years, and the total funding needs
for setting up 10,000 MW capacity is pegged at Rs 1,00,000
crore, Jain said.
Once the first two units come up, the Corporation will
replicate the fund raising model, the NPCIL CMD said.
He expressed hope that at least the construction of the
township for the French Technical experts in Jaitapur will
begin by next year.
NPCIL is also expected to begin resettlement and
rehabilitation projects including building a hospital and an
education institution with facilities up to class 12 and an
ITI and vocational training facility by early next year.
The actual ground work for the reactors and concrete
pouring is expected to begin only by the end of 2010 or
beginning of 2011, Jain said.
Bureau Report
