Nuclear energy will remain a small part of India's power supply for the next 25 years even if the country seals a civil nuclear deal with the United States, a member of India's top policy making body said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, India's dependency on coal, which accounts for nearly 41 percent of its energy needs and has become a focus of global worries about global warming, will remain unchanged due to the booming economy's expanding demand for power.
Nuclear power is expected to go up from the current 2-3 percent of India's energy supply to 6-7 percent by 2031 in the most optimistic scenario with the US deal and consequently boost private investment in the sector, Kirit Parikh, a member of the Indian government's planning commission, told Reuters.
"Even if we go full steam in nuclear energy, wind and hydro (electric power) still you will find coal remains and will remain a significant part of energy mix. Coal would be supplying 41 percent of India's energy needs," Parikh said.
India and the United States will discuss the civil nuclear deal between the two countries during the visit of US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to New Delhi later this week.
Parikh will brief Bodman on India's energy policies. President George W. Bush in December signed into law a bill approved by Congress allowing a civil nuclear deal to go through, a major step towards letting India buy US nuclear reactors and fuel for the first time in 30 years. But Congress attached several conditions to the law which have not gone down well with New Delhi, and the two countries have returned to negotiations.
Under the bill the US president would be required to end the export of nuclear materials if India tests another nuclear device. Its last tests were in 1998. It also does not guarantee uninterrupted fuel supplies for reactors and prevents India from reprocessing spent fuel.
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