During his second meeting in four months with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the first unit of Kudankulam Unit I in Tamil Nadu will be operationalised next month.
He also told Mr. Putin that the Cabinet Committee on Security had given sanction to units 3 and 4 at the same site.
Official sources have in the past said the second unit could be commissioned six months after the first unit starts generating power. This means that the second unit could go on stream in November if the first one starts functioning in April. The plant has been the focus of protests by anti-nuclear activists who have drawn attention to the meltdown at the Fukushima plant in Japan as well as the non-application of the Liability Law on the first two units.
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The Centre will now allocate 1,000 MW to Tamil Nadu from the total generation of 2,000 MW (of the first two units), against the original proposal of 930 MW.