Civil Engineer Shortage and Foreign Investment in Infrastructure

Although India is  noted as producing some of the best creative technologically-oriented talents in the world today, too few young professionals concentrate their education toward civil engineering. This bottlenecks the nation from realizing its full economic potential. India is challenged by inadequate roads,  as well as an electric  power system that creates the need for [...]

Nuclear energy liability legislation passes Lok Sabha

Last week, India’s Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament  passed a civilian nuclear liability bill that would pave the way for foreign companies to join a nuclear-reactor building spree. This bill caps foreign suppliers’ liability in case of an accident at $320 million. The bill now goes to the upper house, the Rajya Sabha [...]

India’s Cabinet approved Nuclear Liability Bill

India’s Cabinet cleared a nuclear liability bill earlier today, a crucial step on the path to bringing foreign companies into its burgeoning nuclear energy market. The bill caps the liability of foreign firms at $320 million in the case of an industrial accident. Bowing to pressure from the political opposition parties, India’s government made 18 [...]

Nuclear treaty benefits start to flow

Using uranium fuel supplied by France’s Areva and Russia’s TVEL Corporation, three of India’s oldest atomic power stations have been able to recover from low capacity factors. The General Electric-supplied Tarapur units 1 and 2 ran at 90 and 99 percent of capacity in the period from April to June 2010; they are both rated [...]

Canada signs Nuclear Energy Deal with India

Yesterday, during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Canada to take part in the G-20 summit, India and Canada have signed a nuclear agreement to promote and develop co-operation in civilian nuclear energy. The Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) will see Canadian uranium exported to India as part of a wide-ranging pledge to increase trade. [...]

India, Canada on verge of nuclear energy agreement

India and Canada are likely to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement within the next few days. “We don’t look back, we look at the future,” Vivek Katju, Secretary (West) with India’s  External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday this week, “There has been progress on finalizing an agreement on cooperation in nuclear energy.”  Katju is [...]

Nuclear power sites announced for American technology

On September 29th Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has finally confirmed what insiders and keen India watchers  have known for a while. Two “nuclear park” sites have been allocated to American technology for construction of new Atomic Power Plants. On the west coast is Mithi Vardi in the Saurashtra region of  Gujarat state; this [...]

Westinghouse CEO signs India nuclear MOU

This weekin Mumbai, India, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westinghouse Electric Company Aris S Candris and Chairman and Managing Director of NPCIL S K Jain signed a memorandum of understanding to begin discussions on the sale of several AP1000 nuclear reactors. This enable the company that has supplied technology for half the world’s reactors [...]

President Bush signs Civil Nuclear Deal

Yesterday, President George W Bush signed the landmark “123 Agreement” enabling the United States and India to collaborate in civilian nuclear energy.  Three years in the making, this deal reverses a 34 year old ban imposed on India after its first nuclear test in the Rajasthan desert in May 1974. See photos and video here

US House approves US-India Nuclear deal

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to the U.S.-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Initiative with a bipartisan vote of 298-117.  The bill must now be approved by the Senate.  There are already reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may fly to New Delhi shortly to complete the process. Approval of this is [...]

White House sends India Nuke Deal to Congress

The White House said late last Wednesday it sent the text of a landmark US-India civilian nuclear agreement to Congress for final approval. The pro-deal arguments are best summarized at a website run by the US India Business Council, an industry group based in Washington, DC. Leading the charge against the deal is a newspaper [...]

India win nuclear waiver: Hot news

In a meeting in Vienna, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group has just granted a historic waiver for India to be able to import nuclear fuel and technologies. This is a huge step in the US-India Civil Nuclear Agrement process. I will post more details shortly.  But remember you heard it here BEFORE the  Wall Street [...]

US-India nuclear agreement closer to reality

The emerging partnership between the United States and India took two steps forward in the last ten days. I am talking about progress on the US India Civil Nuclear Agreement of course.

Crucial “trust” vote in India

General parliamentary elections aren’t due until 2009, but a special session of India’s legislature is to meet in New Delhi on Monday.

The first steps to the US-India Nuclear agreement were signed in 2005, but its passage on both American and India sides has been fraught with questions.

But this current crisis is the most serious challenge so far.