India, Russia sign three contracts, to begin work on units 5 and 6 of Kudankulam nuclear power plant

New Delhi: India and Russia have signed contracts for priority design works and supply of main equipment for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, two months after the main framework agreement for these units were signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia. Three main contracts were signed on Monday between state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and Russia’s JSC Atomstroyexport for priority design works, working design and supply of the main equipment for stage III of Kudankulam NPP, an official release from the Russian company said. [caption id=“attachment_1192611” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kudankulam nuclear plant. PTI[/caption] JSC Atomstroyexport is a key foreign trade engineering company of State Corporation “Rosatom” for construction of nuclear power facilities abroad. “The project for construction of Units 5 and 6 of Kudankulam NPP is passing to the practical implementation phase. Designing begins, as well as development of procurement procedures of the main equipment of the Russian production to complete Stage III of the Indian nuclear power plant”, said Andrey Lebedev, the vice-president on projects in the Southern Asia, JSC ASE EC. After overcoming initial hurdles, India and Russia signed the General Framework Agreement (GFA) and credit protocol for Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam NPP on 1 June, a major outcome of the annual summit talks between Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. “On 13 July, an approval for these three key contracts was obtained from the Rosatom State Corporation, the RF Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance. On 19 July, the NPCIL Board of Directors approved signing of the three contracts on Units 5 and 6 of Kudankulam NPP,” the release added. The Kudankulam NPP was the outcome of an inter-governmental agreement between the erstwhile Soviet Union and India in 1988. It is the single largest nuclear power station in India. The power station was envisaged to have six units with total capacity to generate 6,000 MW of electricity (1,000 MW each).