Construction of the ambitious 9,900-MW nuclear power plant, slated to be one of the largest in the world, will commence at the site in Jaitapur in Konkan by the end of 2018.
On Tuesday, a French delegation led by General Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development Christian Masset and France's India Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis in Mumbai to discuss the same.
The delegation assured the best of the world safeguards for building the plant. The 9,900-MW nuclear power project of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) will be built with an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore and will have a total of six reactors at Madban village of Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district. Fadanvis asked the delegation to accord priority to recruit local residents for non-technical jobs at the nuclear power plant.
The controversial nuclear power project was sanctioned by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. Prithviraj Chavan, the then chief minister, had ensured the highest ever compensation of Rs 40 lakh per hectare of the land acquired for the project.
However, the Shivsena, which has a influence in Konkan, had opposed the nuclear power plant citing environmental hazards and disasters like Fukushima. Violent protests by them had stalled the work of the plant for the past three years.
“We had completed land acquisition for the project. The first phase of building two reactors couldn't commence because of the political opposition. Both the Shivsena and the BJP had opposed it,” Chavan said. Trashing claims of ecological hazards, he cited the example of the Tarapur nuclear power plant near Mumbai, that has been in operation for the past 40 years sans any problems.
“It is important to know the revised cost of the unit of the power produced. It is not the government but the NPCIL who will determine the cost. Nuclear power will reduce dependence on the coal power plants but it has to be cost effective,” Chavan said.
He pointed out that the BJP-Shivsena government had signed a costly agreement with Enron due to sheer lack of knowledge and understanding.
Meanwhile, last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a delegation of Shivsena MPs that the Jaitapur project will go ahead as per schedule since all concerns regarding nuclear hazards were addressed in the project.
However, Shivsena is yet to give up. “We are opposed to Jaitapur nuclear project on the basis of environment damage that it will cause and the safety of the people in case of any leakage or disaster. We will continue to oppose until we are assured about these,” said Shivsena MP Anil Desai.
