Gujarat is inching towards getting a huge nuclear power plant. Around Rs 80,000 crore of investment is likely to be infused for setting up a nuclear power plant with a production capacity of 8,000 Mw. The work for the plant is expected to start within a year.
“As far as the nuclear power generation concerned, about Rs 10 crore is required for generating 1Mw of power. Taking the total capacity of 8,000 Mw, the investment required would be R. 80,000 crore,” said sources closely monitoring the development.
The government sources also revealed that the Gujarat government has mooted a proposal seeking 40 per cent of the power for Gujarat. Mithivirdi in Bhavnagar has been identified for setting up nuclear power plant.
A 1,000-acre site has been identified for the setting up the nuclear power plant in Mithivirdi. The power plants will use nuclear reactors to be purchased from the United States under the nuclear deal signed by the UPA government. According to experts, a coastal site is ideal from the safety point of view for setting up a mega nuclear power project. The area is barren and there is practically no human-induced activity.
The site location committee, appointed by the central government’s Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), has selected Mithivirdi for the plant. A total of six sites, including one each in Ahmedabad and Junagadh and some others in Bhavnagar itself, were identified and short-listed by the committee.
Apart from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh is yet another state which has been identified for a similar nuclear power plant. Both these sites will be dedicated to the first nuclear reactors after the nuclear deal. A formal announcement in this regard is likely to be made during the visit of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton to India this weekend.