India, Russia ink deal for new nuclear power generation units
The two governments have signed an agreement for additional units for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
During an address in Moscow on Tuesday, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced a new agreement between India and Russia for the construction of additional units at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu.
The existing joint project includes operational units 1 and 2 with a capacity of 1000 MW each, while the four remaining units of the same capacity are currently under construction. They are set to be completed by 2027, resulting in a total capacity of 6000 MW.
"Today, we signed some important agreements pertaining to future units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Project," the minister said. In his speech, he called Russia a “special partner” in several domains, such as defense, nuclear power, and space. “Collaborations are done [...] with countries with which you have a high degree of trust,” he added.
Additionally, Jaishankar disclosed that face-to-face discussions on the free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Zone are set to commence early next year.
Earlier on Tuesday, Jaishankar, along with Russia’s deputy prime minister and minister of industry and trade, Denis Manturov, co-chaired the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade and Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation. These discussions took place at the ‘Russia’ exposition, a prominent exhibition at Moscow’s VDNKH complex.
The two officials covered various aspects of cooperation, including trade, investment, finance, banking, transport logistics, energy, and food security. They also emphasized advancing priority projects in industrial cooperation, according to a report by TASS news agency.
“In recent years, despite the challenges faced by our countries, trade and economic ties have been rapidly developing. There is no doubt that the Russian-Indian trade turnover by the end of this year will exceed a significant milestone of $50 billion and set a new historical maximum,” noted Denis Manturov.
Jaishankar has also explored several exhibition pavilions, including the ‘ATOM’ pavilion, which showcases Russia’s achievements in the development of the nuclear industry.
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