A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, authorised the Board of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to initiate the process of land acquisition as a pre-project activity, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here.
The delegation of power to NPCIL would considerably shorten the duration of project implementation as a result of advance actions in acquisition of land through the state machinery which involves lengthy procedures, he said.
The NPCIL can initiate the process of land acquisition immediately after the decision is taken to locate the nuclear reactor at a particular site.
"The financial sanction process can run in parallel to the land acquisition," the Minister said.
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The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and the Cabinet Committee on Security have already given their go ahead for the proposal.