Nuclear biz majors eye Indian market

India envisages adding 30,000 MW of nuclear generation in the public sector in the next 20 years, which means business worth $100 billion for nuclear reactor suppliers and civil construction firms

NOOR MOHAMMAD/ Hardnews/ DELHI

US-BASED NUCLEAR reactor suppliers like General Electric and Westinghouse Electric and civil construction firms such as Bechtel are eyeing the Indian market as the Manmohan Singh government moves ahead to complete the formalities to operationalise the Indo-US civil
nuclear energy cooperation deal. Besides, nuclear fuel processors like Thorium Power also have their eyes set on the Indian market. Banking on the operationalisation of the deal, India envisages adding 30,000 MW of nuclear generation in the public sector alone in next 20 years. That means business to the tune of $100 billion for nuclear reactor suppliers and civil construction firms. This figure will go up as private players like Reliance Energy (REL) and Tata Power have also lined up ambitious plans for nuclear power generation business and are now waiting for the lifting of ban on equipment and fuel trade with the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers' Group.
However, India would like to use the benefit of enhanced fuel supply for its 16-odd operational nuclear power plants, which are running at much below their rated capacity due to uranium shortage. Ban on fuel exports to India will be lifted in six months from entry into force of the deal. That means fuel processors like Thorium Power will start doing business in India much ahead of the reactor suppliers.
However, most of the US firms are new to the Indian market. Except General Electric, no other US nuclear energy business has much presence here. They are likely to face stiff competition from Russia's Atomstroyexport, which has a well-established presence here and is currently implementing the NPCIL's 2X1000 MW Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu. The Russian firm is also ramping up its presence in the Indian market to cash in on the expected boom in equipment demand once the ban is lifted. Meanwhile, Czech power equipment manufacturer Skoda Power has also joined hands with the Russian firm to jointly bid for equipment supply orders in the Indian market.
Apart from that, French firms Alstom and Areva, Germany's Siemens and Mitsubishi, and Hitachi and Toshiba from Japan are also preparing to enter the Indian market.
These firms have been making the rounds of the Indian nuclear establishment to check out the possibility of collaboration with various domestic players and held several rounds of talks with NPCIL.
NTPC envisages a foray into nuclear power generation with a 2,000 MW capacity plant. REL also plans to set up a 2,000 MW power plant as its maiden nuclear venture.
Back home, state-run power generator NTPC and private power generators Tata Power and REL have been in consultation with NPCIL on the modalities of setting up nuclear power plants through the joint venture route.
In project implementation, public sector power equipment manufacturer BHEL, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Tata Power are key players.
BHEL has presently the capacity to manufacture up to 500 MW capacity nuclear power reactors. It is now looking for a tie up for manufacturing equipment of up to 700 MW and 1,500 MW as well. The company has been in talks with Alstom, GE Energy, Russia's LMZ and Siemens. It has an existing tie-up with Siemens for nuclear technology.
L&T has done engineering, procurement and construction projects for nuclear power plants. It is currently working on the NPCIL's 2,000 MW Kudankulam nuclear project.The company will get into mainstream nuclear projects if the deal goes through. L&T's talks with Toshiba failed. It entered into a recent tie-up with Mitsubishi for supercritical boilers. The Mitsubishi technology would be used for Nuclear Power Corp. L&T may leverage its relationship with Mitsubishi for its other nuclear business.
Tata Power Company has tied up with some major nuclear equipment suppliers like Areva. It already has a relationship with Toshiba.