French energy company Areva will sign an accord with the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd next month for setting up two reactors in Maharashtra.
This follows the Intergovernmental Agreement between India and France on civil nuclear co-operation.
"As a follow up to the Intergovernmental Agreement, we will be signing an MoU with Areva most likely on February 4 for setting up of two French reactors," NPCIL Chairman and Managing Director S K Jain told PTI.
"Details of setting up of the plants will take place in due course of time and the projects are expected to begin as soon as formalities with IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is completed on safeguards agreement," Jain said.
Last month, NPCIL and Areva had signed a contract agreement for 300 tonnes of Uranium to augment the power production of the fuel starved indigenous plants.
Regarding signing of a 'confidentiality' or a 'non-disclosure' agreement with the US energy major Westinghouse Electric, which was likely to take place this week, Jain said, "the agreement has gone for approval and once it is approved, it will be signed."
Asked whether a similar agreement will be signed with General Electric (GE), Jain said, "GE has not initiated any talks on these lines."
Last week GE had said that the company prefers to wait till the 123 safeguards agreement is fully implemented.
"Transfer of information is a very sensitive issue and we are trying to work out modalities, how to share information with NPCIL so that it remains secured and not move to an unsafeguarded facility," Meena Mutyala, Vice-President, Global Growth and Innovation Business Leader for India, Westinghouse Electric, had said.
On NPCIL's meeting with UK nuclear business group, he said, dealings with British industry was not new to India and even very recently for the indigenous nuclear reactors of two units of 540 MW each in Tarapur, India has imported main boiler feed pumps which are heavy pump equipment.
"But with India's ambitious plan of reaching a goal of 60,000 MW nuclear by 2030, we feel that the size of the programme is large and global participation in that is a must," Mutyala said.
Over a period such meetings with British business group also will help in tie-ups and joint ventures in the near future, he added.
