Indian powerhouses

Larsen & Toubro: The only manufacturers of reactors in India at present, the company has been meeting global energy companies in the field

Jindal Power: Wants to foray into nuclear power and is in talks with global majors. The group plans to either enter into a joint venture or a technology tie-up with a global major

NPCL: The government-owned corporation currently operates 14 nuclear power units at six locations and is implementing construction of eight nuclear power plants

Other Indian cos that intend to or are likely to emerge as big players include Reliance Power, state-owned NTPC, and the Tata Group

Punj Lloyd: With a client like Simon Carves UK which has experience in nuclear facilities, Punj Lloyd expects opportunities in ancillary industries

World wants a piece

With commerce worth billions of dollars expected to be opened up, four of the world’s biggest nuclear power station makers will be keen to supply reactors to India. These are France’s Areva, The US’s General Electric, Toshiba’s Westinghouse Electric and Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom. Two large Russian nuclear power sector companies are Atomstroiexport and AtomEnergoProm

Powering up

Following India’s nuclear isolation since 1998, capacity utilisation of the country’s 4,120-MW power plants had reduced from 90 per cent in 2001-02 to 54 per cent in 2007-08. With the NSG approving the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, India could get off the ground with about 6-8 reactors with a capacity of 1,000 MW each during the Twelfth Plan period (2013-18). This could diversify the country’s power generation portfolio.

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