Cabinet decision will greatly reduce India’s dependence on foreign technology
There are three positive aspects to the Union Cabinet's approval of indigenous construction of 10 atomic reactors for civil nuclear use. The first is that it will provide an impetus to the encouragement and growth of local technological talent. The Indian scientific establishment has over the decades, as a result of foreign collaborations in the setting up of and operating nuclear power plants, acquired both experience and expertise in the area. Indian scientists are, thus, eminently capable of making a success of similar ventures on their own, and all that they need is the right environment and resources. India could in the process tap local talent situated abroad for the purpose, besides using that which is available within the country. The second advantage has to do with the generation of employment on a large scale. It's never happened before that the construction of as many as 10 reactors has been approved in one go. While the four States where these are proposed to be located will be the direct beneficiaries in terms of local employment, manpower from other regions too will be drawn to the projects. A host of direct and indirect job creations will happen. Besides, several ancillary units will come up and provide opportunities to skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour. The manufacturing order to domestic companies is expected to be a whopping Rs 70,000 crore, and this has the potential of scaling up the performance of these firms, not to speak of reviving units that may be floundering at the moment for lack of opportunities and job orders. The new projects, once they begin to be implemented, will also boost the civil nuclear programme already underway in various parts of the country with foreign help, because the competitive factor will automatically set in.
The third positive aspect is critical to India's projection as a nation competent in civil nuclear technology, and one that can be self-sufficient. The delay in becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), due to obstruction from China, has the potential of delaying, if not derailing, the country's nuclear programme reaching the next level. Although there are many nations backing New Delhi's claim to the NSG, they are not in a position to guarantee its entry. India cannot remain at the mercy of other countries' whims and fancies. In the past, when it faced the brunt of international sanctions, it had realised the importance of indigenous development. After the nuclear tests in the late 1990s, it had been slapped with sanctions but it used the occasion to fast-track local talent; the success in space technology is a good example of this. In the present context, there are reports that India is unhappy with its friend Russia's reluctance to press China to reverse the latter's opposition to India's entry into the NSG, and that New Delhi has delayed the signing of important memorandums of understanding with Moscow on phases five and six reactor units of the Kudankulum nuclear power plant, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even if these reports are speculative, India cannot be forever and totally dependent on foreign help.