Putin hails nuclear cooperation deal with India

Vinay Shukla

Moscow, Dec 10 (PTI) Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Thursday termed the recently-inked nuclear cooperation deal
with India as "great" and said the agreement will help New
Delhi reduce its cost of construction of reactors by 25-30 per
cent.
"That's great!," Putin exclaimed, when he was told by
RosAtom Chief Sergei Kiriyenko about the details of the
nuclear deal signed in the Kremlin during Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's visit earlier this week.
"Our key partner is India. We have signed an
intergovernmental agreement and are completing the drafting of
a contract. Four units for Kudankulam power plant (in
Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu), where we are completing two units
now," the chief of Russia's nuclear regulatory body said.
Kiriyenko lauded India for meeting its promise and
allocating another site at Haripur in West Bengal.
"They (India) have fulfilled their promise and
allocated one more site, in West Bengal, where we will supply
between four and six units," he told the Prime Minister.
According to transcript released by the Russian PM's
Press Office, Putin backed the idea of moving from turnkey
basis, as in the case of Kudankulam, to simultaneous
construction of nuclear reactors at several sites to
drastically bring down the cost.
Putin said by adopting this approach India could save
25-30 per cent cost. PTI VS
DDC