French President Macron is on a four-day visit to India, along with a group of 40 bigshot French businessmen who have come to India with an intend to invest large amounts in different sectors such as Railways, Smart Cities, Solar Energy, Civil Nuclear Corporation. Sources reveal that the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant, which is located in Maharashtra, is also prominent on the agenda of the French President who is keen to have a one-to-one interaction with PM Modi about this.
Back in 2009, during the UPA-II regime, a French company Areva SA had proposed a tender for a six-grid plant setup in India. In 2010, an agreement was sealed wherein Areva SA was to setup two nuclear plants in Jaitapur. Time passed-by and the governments in both nations changed. In 2011, when a tsunami occurred due to a leak from the Fukosima Nuclear Plant and brought along mass destruction, nuclear plants setups drew global criticism. Many self-help groups opened protests against these plants.
In the midst of all these upheaval, Areva SA was also surrounded by terrible economic difficulties and the company was taken-over by an other French company ‘Électricité de France’ and, thus, the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant was hovered by the clouds of uncertainty. But now the French President Macron is showing great interest in re-starting this project.