Nuclear Power Corpoaration of India plans to set up joint ventures with the Indian Railways and Steel Authority of India Ltd to set up nuclear reactors , continuing its strategy to involve state entities to fund its ambitious plan to add nearly 60,000 MW of new capacity in two decades. The company also hopes to involve private firms in nuclear power plants if the government allows this in the future.

NPCIL is already in the process of setting up joint ventures with three other state firms, NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation and National Aluminium Company. NPCIL would hold majority stake and offer up to 49% to the partners in ongoing or upcoming projects. This will help it raise funds through equity infusion and broaden its equity base which can be leveraged to raise more debt.

Mr Sreyans Kumar Jain chairman of NPCIL said that “SAIL and Indian Railways have approached us for joint ventures. We have had two to three rounds of discussions.”

Mr Jain said that “NTPC, IOC and Nalco have promised that they will be able to ploughin total INR 20,000 crore of equity by the eleventh plan period (FY08-FY 12). Based on this equity base I can borrow from market INR 60,000 crore.”

Mr Jain said that “Our equity base, cash surplus, and internal accruals are sufficient to finance, on our own, addition of 12,000 MW. Government may not have budget, so the best thing right now would be public-public joint ventures.

The nuclear power utility is banking on equity investment from other public sector enterprises to support the mammoth task to raise its capacity to 63,000 MW by 2032 from 4,780 MW now. The utility aims to forge joint ventures with cash rich public sector undertakings to beat paucity of funds and ensure timely execution of projects.

(Sourced from ET)