Liability clause set to stall deal between India and Russia on reactors for Kudankulam

The Kudankulam nuclear reactor will start generating 1000 MW of power by October end.

India and Russia will not sign an agreement on the supply of unit III and IV for the Kudankulam nuclear reactor during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two-day Russia visit.

Top-level government sources said the 'legalities' had still not been completely worked out. All issues, except the liability clause, have been resolved and lawyers from both sides are working on it.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is currently in Moscow on a state visit. Reuters

"We have cleaned up the text of the agreement and now lawyers on both sides are having a final look at the agreement," sources said.

A commercial agreement between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russian state firm Rosatom is to be signed. They would like to do it separately.

Russia is opposed to the project coming under the ambit of the Nuclear Civil Liability Law of India and wants it to be covered under the Inter-governmental agreement on the issue. India has tried to assuage Russian concerns by making proposals on the liability, limiting it to suppliers default if equipment fails after an accident.

"India and Russia share a privileged, special partnership and this is the 14th summit that is taking place. We are going to review our partnership and its progress in diverse fields such as atomic energy, defence cooperation, space cooperation, science and tech," PM Manmohan Singh said on arrival at Moscow

 

 

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kudankulam-deal-india-russia-strattegic-relations-prime-minister-manmohan-singh-npcil-rosatom/1/317224.html

shailendar kumar 
pgdm 1st year 
times of india