New Delhi
15 July 2008
India and Russia were expected to sign the contracts for setting up four more
Russian-built nuclear reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu by December, when Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Moscow for the annual summit between the leaders
of both countries. Officials from the two countries were in talks for new sites in India for
future Russian-built nuclear reactors.
The Russian side is understood to have shown interest in a location in the proximity of
Kudankulam, either on the east coast or on the west coast, including Karnataka. The
Russians were wary of opposition from local communities, and would therefore want to
set up reactors in states where they will be welcome.
However, the Indian nuclear energy establishment has not short-listed Karnataka so far:
Only Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal on the east coast and Gujarat and
Maharashtra on the west coast had been earmarked for locating nuclear parks. The
French reactors would be set up at Jaitapur in Maharashtra while the reactors to be built
with assistance from the United States were likely to be located in two states.
The agreement between New Delhi and Moscow on cooperation in the construction of
additional nuclear power plant units at Kudankulam and in the construction of Russian-
designed nuclear power plants at new sites was signed here on December 5, 2008,
during the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Russia has reassured India that the G-8 statement on non-proliferation, which talked
about curbing transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technologies to non-NPT
signatories such as India, will not limit the scope of the Indo-Russian civil nuclear
cooperation agreement.
Russia has taken the position that the G-8 statement was not legally-binding and it would
not affect its contractual obligations. On the defence side, Russia has indicated that the
negotiation on pricing and delivery of INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov)
aircraft-carrier would be concluded soon.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the negotiations were on for finalising a revised
repair and re-equipping contract. Both sides were expected to reach an agreement on the
price and time for commissioning the aircraft carrier into the Indian Navy within a
fortnight.
Earlier this month President Medvedev visited Sevmash in Russia's northern port of
Severodvinsk, where the Soviet-era aircraft carrier is docked. Media reports quoted
Medvedev as saying on the occasion that the ship needed to be refitted quickly. "We
must finish it and sell it. Anything else would set a very poor precedent," Medvedev
said. The Gorshkov deal was signed in 2004 and its delivery has been pushed back to
2012.
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