India, Russia discuss building 6 more nuclear power units

India and Russia discussed the construction of additional nuclear power plants in India, Russia’s ROSATOM also confirmed. (Representative image)

India and Russia are discussing the construction of six more high-power nuclear power plant units as well as low-power nuclear plants, Russian news agency TASS reported on July 9.

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Russia on a crucial two-day trip to attend the 22nd annual India-Russia summit.

India and Russia discussed the construction of additional nuclear power plants in India, Russia’s ROSATOM also confirmed.

State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (ROSATOM) is a Russian multi-industry holding company which comprises assets in power engineering, machine building, and construction. Its strategy is to develop low-carbon generation, including wind power.

ROSATOM further informed that Russia and India are in dialogue about jointly developing the transit potential of the Northern Sea Route. The two nations are discussing the possibility of supplying Russian energy resources via the Northern Sea Route to Indian ports, with trans-shipment at Russian Far Eastern ports. They are also exploring options for establishing a pilot line for international container transit through the Northern Sea Route.

Russia had presented its proposals on floating nuclear power plants to India in April 2024.

The two nations are actively exploring the prospects of collaboration in the field of quantum computing, including the creation of quantum computers. They see significant potential for partnership within the framework of the Russian multipurpose research reactor project on fast neutrons. And, preparation is underway for the technical specifications for the construction of a new Russian-designed nuclear power plant in India with VVER-1200 reactor units.

ROSATOM also said, “Russia and India have great potential for cooperation in the field of controlled nuclear fusion. They see prospects for collaboration in closing the nuclear fuel cycle.”

It added, “Rosatom is discussing the possibility of constructing six more high-capacity nuclear units and small-scale nuclear power plants in India.”

The new nuclear power plants will reportedly be built by BHEL and Power Mech.

Earlier in May 2024, Power Mech Projects had announced that it had bagged an order worth Rs 563 crore from state-owned BHEL to construct a nuclear power plant.