India and Russia talk about small modular reactors and push for completion of the Kudankulam project Latest India News » Today Latest Stories
India and Russia have decided to expand their civil nuclear cooperation, with Moscow ready to share technology for a small modular reactor used in power generation, even as the two sides work towards completing the first phase of the 6,000 MW Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu. Nadeau, according to people familiar with the matter. Small modular reactors – advanced nuclear reactors – have a power generation capacity ranging from 75 megawatts to 300 megawatts.
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar completed his five-day visit to Russia today, and the above-mentioned people said that both sides are pushing for the commissioning of reactors 3 and 4 while simultaneously accelerating work on reactors 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear project. Meanwhile, the Covada nuclear project, supported by Westinghouse in the United States, with a capacity of 6,600 megawatts, and the Jaitapur nuclear project, supported by the French company Areva, with a capacity of 9,900 megawatts, were halted due to price negotiations. Only Reactors 1 and 2 in Kudankulam are operational at present, providing 2,000 MW of electricity to the country.
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While Jaishankar met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, he had a rare and unexpected interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 27. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is understood to have expressed his regret to Putin for not arriving in Moscow. The Chinese President extended the invitation to the annual summit this year in view of his commitments to the G20 summit, while confirming that the summit will be held in 2024.
Jaishankar’s visit to Russia comes at a time when the latter assumes the presidency of the BRICS platform, and the two countries are looking forward to future joint projects in military systems such as the BrahMos missile and AK-203 rifle projects within the framework of the “BRICS Agreement.” Aatmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-Reliant India). One of the areas of the possible joint venture is the manufacture of Kamov 226T multi-purpose helicopters, the people mentioned above said.
While President Putin expressed his appreciation for India’s strategic independence under Modi, New Delhi has managed to maintain close relations with Moscow without China entering the bilateral equation. Russia supplies approximately 65% of India’s military equipment, and it is understood that both sides need to boost supplies of spare parts that have been hit by delays due to Russia’s war with Ukraine. While Russia has delivered three out of five S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India, New Delhi is looking to receive an Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine under a long-term lease from Moscow in 2025, the people said.
Against the backdrop of the Iranian-backed Houthi attack on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, India is also in talks with Russia to explore the Northern Sea Route in a worst-case scenario. One implication of global warming caused by the climate crisis is that the Northern Sea Route for commercial shipping may be usable for a large part of the year without fear of encountering ice and stormy weather. While India has investments in the oil and gas sector in northern Russia, it is President Putin who has supplied crude oil to India at discounted prices to ensure that oil prices do not flare up due to the war in Ukraine.
