India's only nuclear power producer Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd has entered into an agreement with engineering giant Larsen & Toubro Ltd to set up a joint venture company to produce special steels and ultra heavy forgings. The total investment is expected to be Rs.1,750 crore out of which equity would constitute Rs.575 crore. L&T will be the lead partner with a stake of 74 per cent.
 The new fully-integrated facility to be located at Hazira near Surat in Guajrat will augment India's capability in manufacturing critical components for the nuclear power industry. With a dedicated steel melt shop producing ingots weighing up to 600 tonnes each, and a heavy forge shop equipped with a forging press, the Hazira facility is said to be amongst the largest in the world. With the addition of this forge facility, L&T's existing Hazira manufacturing complex will enter the exclusive club of manufacturers with an integrated capability covering the entire process-from steel melting to production of finished equipment.
The joint venture will supply finished forgings for nuclear reactors, pressurizers and steam generators, in addition to heavy forgings for critical equipment in the hydrocarbon sector, as well as for thermal power plants.
Indigenous manufacturing of forgings will close a critical gap in India's capability to produce equipment for nuclear, thermal power and hydrocarbon plants. Considering the thrust on infrastructure growth in India, and the global nuclear renaissance, the market potential for such forgings is expected to remain strong over the long term, an official release issued by the two joint venture partners said.
India's currently nuclear power capacity, all owned by NPCIL, is 4,120 mw through 17 reactors. Six reactors aggregating 3,160 mw are under construction.
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Alstom is nuke partner
Nuclear Power Corporation of India has identified Alstom of France as the third partner in its three-way joint venture with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd to fabricate nuclear turbines. NPCIL and Bhel last year announced floating a joint venture company to carry out engineering, procurement and construction activities for nuclear power projects both within and outside of the country. The two partners then said that a third partner was being scouted. The turbines would be manufactured at BHEL's Bhopal unit |
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