Vinod Bhat
New Delhi: Shri Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Power, held a meeting today in New Delhi with Mr. Bernard Fontana, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, EDF, France, to review the ongoing engagement between India and EDF on the proposed deployment of EPR reactors in India. The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Power, the Ministry of External Affairs, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), NTPC Limited and NPCIL on the Indian side, and by officials of EDF and the Embassy of France in India on the French side.
The discussions centred on the deployment of EPR technology, India’s regulatory reforms for the nuclear sector, cooperation on pumped hydro storage projects, and the way forward for a robust, mutually beneficial partnership.
EDF apprised the Indian side of its efforts to build an ecosystem and supply chain in India for large-scale localization, and reiterated that a sizeable programme with multiple nuclear reactors would give suppliers confidence and enable economies of scale by leveraging Indian industry’s capabilities.
Secretary (Power) briefed the French side on the progress made in finalizing India’s regulatory framework for the nuclear power sector, including the Draft SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) Rules and Regulations, placed by the Department of Atomic Energy in the public domain for stakeholder consultation. The Rules provide for a streamlined, time-bound licensing framework and enable participation of private and foreign partners in India’s nuclear power programme.
The two sides also discussed cooperation on pumped hydro storage projects, building on the proposed NTPC-EDF joint venture in this area.
