India, France agree on cost of power generated by JNPP

After three years of hectic negotiations, India and France have agreed on the cost of power that will be generated by Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP), clearing a major hurdle in the path of the project.

The two sides have agreed on Rs 6 per unit, down from Rs 9.18 per unit quoted by the French company Areva initially, which was not acceptable to India, sources told a news agency in New Delhi.  France has also decided to provide India a loan for the project at 4.8 per cent interest rate for 25 years, they said.

The decisions were arrived at during a meeting between National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and Chairman of France's Commission on Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA) Benard Bigot in Paris recently, they said.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and Areva are now working out further modalities.  The Jaitapur project in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra will have 6 EPRs (European Pressurised Reactors) with each reactor producing 1650 MWs of electricity.