French president Nicolas Sarkozy kicked off his four-day visit to India in Bangalore on Saturday, pitching for nuclear energy contracts between the two countries.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy kicked off his four-day visit to India in Bangalore on Saturday, pitching for nuclear energy contracts between the two countries. He pointed to the urgency of increasing power generation capacity to sustain India’s economic growth.
“We all know how critical it is for India to ensure its energy security,” Sarkozy said in a speech at the Indian Space Research Organisation. He cited the example of France which generates 62,000 megawatts of nuclear power annually, which meets 80% of its electricity requirement. India in contrast currently has a nuclear power capacity of only 4,560 MW, which is less than 3% of its total energy needs. But it aims to increase that to 63,000 MW by 2032.
“This is more than a change of scale. It’s a change of attitude,” Sarkozy said.
He said once the French Areva-built Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra is up and functional, the six Indo-French European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) will be able to generate a total of 10,000 MW of nuclear power.
India’s environment ministry last weekend gave clearance for the project worth an estimated one trillion rupees. The final contracts are expected to be signed in the first half of 2011, and the first unit is expected to become operational by 2018.
Apart from nuclear technology, Sarkozy, leading a delegation of seven ministers and 60 CEOs, will lobby for multibillion-dollar contracts for fighter jets.
The French president is the latest in a long line of world leaders beating a path to India, the world’s second-fastest growing major economy.
His visit comes after those by British prime minister David Cameron and US president Barack Obama, and will be followed in swift succession by China’s premier Wen Jiabao and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
Like Obama before him, Sarkozy emphasised India’s increased influence in the world.
“A prosperous India would have a positive impact on Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are the centres of instability in the world... We cannot afford to let Taliban take control in these two countries,” he said.
He also said France is solidly backing India for a permanent seat in the United Nation’s Security Council.
From Bangalore, Sarkozy, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni, flew to Agra, where they visited the Taj Mahal in the evening. On Tuesday, the French president will come to Mumbai, where he will pay his respects to the victims of the 26/11 attacks.
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