India's Nuclear Energy Program

India, like China, is going to need massive quantities of affordable energy as it looks to generate enough economic activity to lift millions of people out of poverty. And nuclear energy is part of the program. From the Economic Times:

NEW DELHI: Grappling with a growing power deficit, India is looking at tapping cost-effective nuclear energy by commissioning nine nuclear reactors in what is being termed the world's largest such project.

India has set a target of 20,000 MW nuclear power generation by 2020, as against the current capacity of 2,700 MW power from 14 nuclear power reactors.

"India is very much on course as far as nuclear power generation is concerned," said S.K. Jain, chairman and managing director of the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL)."We are at present simultaneously working to set up nine nuclear power plants that will create 4,000 MW new capacity by 2007-08. We will be investing around Rs.200 billion ($4.5 billion) in these projects," he added.

And it looks like the U.S. is poised to cooperate with India on a wide range of energy projects:

U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia met Tuesday in Washington to launch the new bilateral Energy Dialogue, fulfilling a commitment made during a September 2004 meeting between President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The goal of this dialogue is to promote increased trade and investment in the energy sector by working with the public and private sectors to identify areas of cooperation and collaboration.

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