With India receiving an NSG waiver, several homegrown firms have lined up investments worth Rs 1,00,000 crore for foraying into nuclear power generation and are negotiating deals with companies from France.
Ahead of the India-EU summit that begins on Monday in Marseilles, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday expressed hope that the nuclear pact between India and France will come up for "possible signature" during his talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"We had initialled a framework agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation earlier this year, it will come up for review and possible signature during the visit," Manmohan Singh told reporters on way from New York to Marseilles.
He said he was looking forward to his meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
After attending the ninth India-EU summit at the resort town of Marseilles in the French Riviera on Monday, the Prime Minister goes to Paris Tuesday to meet Sarkozy.
France is the chair of the rotating presidency of the European Union. Sarkozy will be present during the India-EU summit.
The business summit, to coincide with the India-EU political summit, will be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Business leaders from India and the European Union, the country's largest trading partner, would participate in the meeting.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is fielding a 85-member delegation for the India-EU Business Summit here on September 30.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has already done exploratory meetings and technical discussions with three global reactor suppliers including Areva of France,
FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra told PTI.
Mitra said, while Tata Power Company has tied up with major nuclear equipment suppliers like Areva and established a relationship with Toshiba, several other Indian firms including Reliance Infra and Larsen and Toubro are working on their nuclear power generation plans.
While generation of atomic energy is restricted to the public sector in India, the government is seriously considering opening it for the private sector once the Indo-US deal gets into implementation.
Earlier this month, French Minister of State for External Trade Anne Marie Idrac had said in New Delhi that the NSG waiver opened the way for France to sign a bilateral agreement with India.