State-owned NTPC's proposed joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for setting up a 2,000-Mw atomic power plant is likely to be formalised in the next 2-3 months, sources said.
NTPC and NPCIL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture for setting up nuke power projects in the country last month.
Both the companies are awaiting approval from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for formalising the agreement.
"NPCIL has forwarded the agreement to DAE for their approval, the formal joint venture agreement can be expected in 2-3 months," sources close to the development said.
NTPC plans to add 2,000 Mw of nuclear power by 2017. To achieve this objective the company is in the process of setting up a joint venture company with NPCIL, where the latter would hold a majority stake of 51 per cent, while the rest would be with the power PSU.
On formation of the company, the JV would decide the sites to be pursued and technologies to be adopted.
NTPC has formed a Nuclear Power Cell headed by officers trained at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for building capacity in this field.
NTPC, which has a current installed capacity of over 30,000 Mw from all sources of energy, plans to raise this capacity to 75,000 Mw by 2017 through a mix of thermal, hydel and nuclear power.
NTPC is also gearing up for its follow-on public offer, which opens on February 3 next month. The government plans to divest five per cent of its stake in the power utility.
After disinvestment, the government's holding in NTPC would come down to 84.5 per cent from 89.5 per cent at present. It plans to mop up about Rs 11,000 crore at current market rates.
The nuclear power generation contributes a meagre 2.9 per cent (4,120 Mw) to the total installed capacity of 1,55,000 Mw.
After the Nuclear Suppliers Group's (NSG) waiver in September, 2008, India has signed civil nuclear pacts with seven countries -- US, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Argentina and Mongolia.
The government plans to take atomic power generation in the country to 20,000 Mw by 2020.
