Russia still hopes the Kudankulam power plant can be started up this year despite continuing protests by local residents. “The commissioning of unit one of the power station is scheduled for the end of this year, and unit two should go online six months later,” said Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. He added that talks are being finalised on a contract to build units three and four at Kudankulam.
Mr. Ivanov co-chaired the opening session at an Indo-Russian forum on trade and investment in Moscow on Thursday with Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma. The Russian deputy premier apparently was using outdated information on Kudankulam. Atomstroiexport, the Russian company building two reactors at Kudankulam, said the commissioning of the Kudankulam reactors was likely to be rescheduled because of the protests.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India, which partners Atomstroiexport in the Kudankulam project, said on its website the new deadline for operationalising unit one is March 2012 and unit II is December 2012. Mr. Ivanov regretted the fact that India had not yet joined Russia as a full-fledged partner in the GLONASS space navigation system. “We see India as a strong and leading partner, but regrettably still a potential partner, in the commercial uses of GLONASS,” he told the Indo-Russian forum.
Russia regards India as a key market for its nuclear energy technologies and equipment, the Russian deputy premier said. He noted good prospects in bilateral cooperation in pharmaceuticals and invited Indian pharma companies to set up production in Russia. Mr. Ivanov also identified telecommunications and machine-building as priority areas for Indo-Russian cooperation.
