BHEL soon to set up a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Alstom for setting up civil nuclear power plants

State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd will soon set up a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and Alstom Ltd for setting up civil nuclear power plants in the country, Heavy Industries secretary Bhawani Singh Meena said on Thursday.

All the three companies will have 33.33% equity each in the joint venture, which would get approval from department of atomic energy within a month, Meena said.

The investment details are being worked out, Meena said, adding the joint venture was conceived a couple of years ago but government was awaiting the passage of nuclear liability Bill for the joint venture to take off. 

The bill was passed in last monsoon session of Parliament.

Currently, nuclear power plants can be set up only by Nuclear Power Corporation of India.

Alstom, a French company, is a global major involved with manufacture of power equipment. The company would be technology partner in the joint venture.

Once the joint venture is cleared by department of atomic energy, it would be able to bid for setting up civil nuclear power plants in the country, Meena said. The joint venture would not only manufacture nuclear power equipment but also bid for construction of civil nuclear power plants.

About $150 billion investment is expected in next 10-20 years in nuclear power plants.The country has already identified sites for setting up nuclear power plants in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa and a few other states.

Each site would have nuclear plants with generation capacity ranging from 6,000-10,000 mega watt.