Date:08/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010856670400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Nuclear plant to come up at Pulivendula

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) will soon sign an agreement with AP Genco by the end of this month to pave way for setting up a 2,000-MW capacity nuclear power plant at Pulivendula in Kadapa district proposed by the State government.

While the NPCIL will have 51 per cent stake in the project, AP Genco’s shareholding will be 49 per cent. This was announced by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy in New Delhi on Wednesday in the presence of Union Power Minister Jairam Ramesh.

An NPCIL team which visited Kadapa district recently, expressed satisfaction. The balancing reservoir Telugu Ganga project at Brahmamgari Mattam was shown as water source for the project.

The Pulivendula plant will be India’s first nuclear power project to be set up as a joint venture .

G. Vaman Rao, Director (Human Resources), AP Genco, who made a presentation before Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on the project after discussions with NPCIL official at Mumbai, told The Hindu that soil, seismic and other formal tests would be conducted for Pulivendula site shortly as required. He also said the project’s capacity might go higher if the NPCIL imported the reactors in preference to indigenous ones.