‘There is an urgent need to make the necessary regulatory change quickly, so that investment, including that from established private companies interested in this business, can begin to flow,' Prithviraj Chavan said.
– By Tom Lamar –
India's economic advisory panel to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has favoured the need to allow private companies invest in nuclear power generation.
In a written reply to a question in Parliament recently, Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state for science & technology and earth sciences said there is a need to bring legislative changes to allow the entry of private companies into the business of nuclear power generation within an appropriate regulatory framework.
He said India has to diversify its fuel sources and develop more natural gas and nuclear energy based power plants as opposed to the coal based capacities that currently exist.
The council has in its recommendation said the entry of private players in nuclear power generation will enable them to learn complexities of nuclear technologies, quality and safety, culture and a long-term commitment.
If necessary changes are made to help the country generate more nuclear power, India is likely to achieve the target that it has set for the Eleventh Plan as the $150 billion nuclear power market continues to lag in power generation.
However, Chavan said at this stage the government does not have any plan to change the provisions of the existing Atomic Energy Act 1962 allowing private participation in setting up nuclear power plants.
India, which currently produces 4,183 MW of power from its nuclear reactors, expects to generate 20,000 MW of nuclear energy by 2020 and 63,000 MW by 2032. It aims to supply 25 percent of its electricity requirements from nuclear power by 2050, another report said.