Indian Oil approves nuclear joint venture

17 November 2010

The board of Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has approved equity participation in the construction of new reactors at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) through a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). In a written statement to the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Indian parliament), the minister for petroleum and natural gas, Murli Deora, said that IOC would initially contribute 26% of the equity, but would have the option to increase its contribution up to 49%. The estimated cost of the project is 123 billion rupees ($2.7 billion), Deora said. In November 2009, IOC and NPCIL signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly construct nuclear power plants in India.