A $9-Billion Blast ; the Indo-Us N-Deal Is Done, and Us Companies Are Busy Casing Out the Indian Market. The Obvious Attraction: A Potentially Rs 40,000- Crore Plus Opportunity.

Summary

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A large 250-member delegation of us business executives landed in Mumbai in the last week of November. Apart from the unusually large size of the delegation, what was interesting was its composition-it included representatives of about a dozen companies that are present in the nuclear sector-like GE Energy, Thorium Power, BMX Technologies (BMXT) and ConverDyn. The high-level us delegation met the domestic industry to sniff at potential opportunities in the nuclear power generation business that, on a conservative scale, will be worth more than $9 billion (Rs 40,500 crore) over the next five years. "We are excited about the opportunities as they unfold," says Ron Somers, President, Indo-US Chamber of Commerce, who was here to herd the 25-strong nuclear industry team from the us. Somers is not new to India or the power business-he headed the controversial 1,000 mw Cogentrix fast track power project close to a decade ago.

The visit was timely; the US legislature is in the process of approving legal amendments that will lift the three-decade long ban on sale of civilian nuclear equipment and fuel to India. As India returns from nuclear exile, are there others who will embrace it? How will the nuclear power business play out? What do the global players have to say and how is the domestic industry shaping up?

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A $9-Billion Blast ; the Indo-Us N-Deal Is Done, and Us Companies Are Busy Casing Out the Indian Market. The Obvious Attraction: A Potentially Rs 40,000- Crore Plus Opportunity.

Interestingly, nuclear power industry in the US has not added a single megawatt of power capacity over the last quarter century on its home soil. "We have done most of our business out of Japan but have ensured that we maintain our technological edge over the last decade," says Andrew White, CEO of GE Energy's nuclear business. For others, like the $4-billion (Rs 18,000-crore) BMX Technologies, partici...

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