The government will be wary of controversial economic reforms, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Prithviraj Chavan, tells Saubhadra Chatterji and Nistula Hebbar
Will you allow private players to take part in the nuclear business?
The present position is that the government of India permits only companies owned by it to take part in the nuclear business. To enter the field of atomic energy, the company must have at least 51 per cent share owned by the central government. The minority shares can be owned either by a state government or private parties. If private parties are to be allowed, the Atomic Energy Act will have to be amended. Whether the government will do it or not, it is for the Union Cabinet to take a call. But there are some other amendments to the Atomic Energy Act that are long overdue. Like we need to strengthen the atomic energy regulatory board.
But the critics are saying that the cost of nuclear power is more than that of power from the conventional sources
As compared with coal, the cost of uranium is much less. The transport cost of uranium is negligible. But recently, we have noticed that the price of uranium is going up because many countries are looking at the option of nuclear energy. So there is pressure on the price of nuclear fuel as the demand rises. This, in fact, endorses our stand that we need to look for nuclear energy as a viable option and shows that there is a renaissance of nuclear energy as a clean and green source of energy. Unlike coal, there is no carbon emission, and nuclear power centres don’t leave carbon footprints behind.
In future, will nuclear energy replace fossil fuels?
It is not possible for nuclear energy to completely replace fossil fuels in India. Worldwide, there are different levels of nuclear power use in different countries. It ranges from 2 per cent in China to 78 per cent in France. The world average is 19 per cent. In India, I think it will not even reach double digits. You have to keep in mind that in future, the total demand or consumption of fuel will also increase. Another important point is, it will throw up export opportunities for Indian companies. Already, in existing nuclear power centres, many components are made by Indian companies. For example, in Kudankulam, 50 per cent components are made by Indian companies. Over a period of time, more requirements will be met by Indian manufacturers. Foreign companies are mainly interested in supplying technology and fuel. They are not keen to set up the reactor for you. As the demand for nuclear power rises, Indian companies, with their experience at home, can find markets abroad.
Availability of money is, of course, an important factor. To implement total civil nuclear co-operation, you will need a lot of money.
The BJP lost the largest number of MPs from Karnataka (during the trust vote). Was it a kind of payback for the state unit having poached your MLAs?
Of course not. I did not see it as a way of getting back at them. The crossovers happened for several reasons. One, we are at the end of the term here. Also, there is a unique situation with the delimitation as many MPs find that they have no constituency or that the nature of their constituency has changed radically. Many of these MPs had issues with their party leaders, which closed the door on their advancement in their respective parties. They were looking for alternatives. Some of these MPs were old Congressmen, some of them voted with us in the presidential election, so it was a combination of factors.
Was your party certain of winning?
We were absolutely sure of winning. Whether we would get an absolute majority of 273-plus was the question. There were three factors which were of prime concern: Would we lose any Congressmen to pressures like delimitation or local factors? What would be the gap between us and the opposition? And how many MPs of the opposition would cross over or abstain. Surprisingly, there was not a single crossover from the BSP. We had reconciled to some losses from the Samajwadi Party, although it had promised that it would make good the losses, and partially fulfiled the promise.
What went through your mind in the 10 seconds between the voting and the results being out on the board?
We were absolutely sure of winning, the only question was whether we would get an absolute majority. It might look like hype, but it is our belief that when MPs went home, they were asked by their constituencies as to why they were opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal. I believe there is a huge groundswell of support for the deal among the people, who have made the connection between it and energy security.
How do you see the ride for the government with its new allies?
Well, we have very little time left. There were certain agenda we could not push, especially in the financial sector, because of our earlier partners. The current composition of the coalition does not appear adverse to some of these reforms. These include reforms in pension management, insurance and banking. But having said that, we would be very wary of bringing on anything very controversial as we don’t want another situation where there is a division in Parliament and the entire route is travelled again.
The BJP has said that it wants to be consulted by the government if it wants any support for the reforms.
That’s fine, but I would also like to say that in certain areas of national interest we should look beyond party lines.
There have been accusations that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has become a medium to resolve corporate disputes?
I flatly deny it. The prime minister is not someone who would fight corporate battles on behalf of the government or the PMO. This is rubbish.
