PM Modi, President Putin Discuss A Second Russian Nuclear Plant in India
India and Russia discussed expanding nuclear energy cooperation during President Vladimir Putin's first official visit since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022.
The two nations discussed the possibility of building a second nuclear power plant with Russian-designed reactors, with the Indian side committing to allocate a site for the project, according to a joint statement issued on Friday.
The agreements come amid ongoing parliamentary discussions seeking reforms that would open the market to private nuclear operators, until now a monopoly of state-owned Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd.
The proposed changes aim to ease the sector's current liability regime, which exposes suppliers to damage claims and legal suits — along with the operator. While global conventions limit liability to plant operators, India's law has stifled projects by reactor makers such as General Electric Co., Westinghouse Electric and Electricite de France.
The leaders agreed to explore the commercial and technical feasibility of Russian VVER reactors as well as increasing efforts to build equipment and fuel supply chains, according to the statement. India currently operates two Russian VVERs of 1 gigawatt each at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu and plans to add four more such units there.
India and Russia have been discussing a second site to set up six 1.2 gigawatts reactors since at least 2016, but talks haven't progressed due to the current legal constraints. The Kudankulam plant is currently the only one hosting foreign reactors as it predates the rollout of the liability law.
Earlier in the day, Putin said his country is open to collaborate with India on developing small modular reactors, a technology still in a nascent stage but seen holding promise for industrial decarbonization.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
