Russia To Build Civil Nuclear Plant in India

Russia is willing to build nuclear power plants of up to 15,000 megawatts over the next 10 years in India, the Russian ambassador to the South Asian nation said Wednesday.

"The talks on setting up nuclear plants in India are in their initial stage," Alexander Kadakin told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of an India-Russia business event.

"We are prepared to start construction of nuclear plants in India, whenever India is prepared," he said, Wall Street Journal reports.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrives in New Delhi tonight to fend off competition from the U.S. and Europe to supply arms and nuclear energy to India.

Putin is set to meet his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh tomorrow to oversee the signing of more than $10 billion in deals, including a refurbished aircraft carrier, MiG-29 fighter jets and two nuclear reactors, according to a report in Bloomberg.

According to Economic Times, India and Russia will Friday tighten their strategic and economic ties by signing a slew of agreements, including an umbrella civil nuclear pact and another accord fixing the cost of the refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov at $2.35 billion.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Friday evening holds talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who touches down in India close to midnight Thursday for a brief visit lasting less than 24 hours.

The two sides will sign an umbrella inter-governmental civil nuclear agreement, a clutch of defence deals and a visa pact after the talks, officials said. The nuclear pact was initialled during Manmohan Singh's trip to Moscow in December last year.

India has a long history of defense ties with Moscow. The current cooperation program comprises about 200 joint projects, including the transfer of technology for the licensed assembly of T-90 tanks in India, the production of BrahMos missiles and the purchase of Smerch MLRS by India, RIA Novosti news agency says.