Yuri Senturin, Vice Chairman of State Duma Committee on Energy, Transport and Communication

— Russia should intensify its efforts to expand into the Indian energy market

Vice Chairman of State Duma Committee on Energy, Transport and Communication Yuri Senturin believes that after the signing of the memorandum on the construction of 4 nuclear power units in India Russia should intensify its efforts to expand into the Indian energy market.

“We know that India is going to actively develop its nuclear power sector in the coming years. The total cost of its projects is estimated at $500bln. The agreement between Russia and India is a serious but not guaranteed bid for strong positions on the Indian market. All the talks are being held under tough competition,” says Senturin.

He notes that the signing of the memorandum with India is a landmark event in the development of the nuclear power engineering: “This event has marked a new stage in the Russian strategic policy and our partnership in the sphere. This is a good bonus for Russia: new capacities, new jobs, new grounds for progress and modernization, new innovative directions.”

As was reported earlier, India is planning to build up to 40 GW of nuclear capacities by 2025.

The construction of Kudankulam NPP was started in 2002. The general contractor is Atomstroyexport (Russia). The 2 Kudankulam units will have VVER-1000 reactors with a total capacity of 2,000 MW.