NEW DELHI: Indian Railways and state-owned companies in energy sector including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Indian Oil Corporation and NTPC Ltd could soon be funding the country’s nuclear energy expansion programme.State-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is in talks with cash-rich public sector undertakings in energy sector and the national transporter to float joint ventures for setting up nuclear power plants across the country.“We are in active dialogue with many public sector undertakings. The amended Atomic Energy Act allows NPCIL to collaborate with Indian PSUs,” NPCIL director-projects Rohit Banerjee told ET.NPCIL is looking at leveraging equity from cash-rich PSUs in line with its targets to increase nuclear power generation in the country to 63 GW from the current installed capacity of 6,780 MW.It is setting up another 6,700 MW through projects that are under various stages of construction. Besides land availability and technology sharing issues, NPCIL is faced with the challenge of procuring low-cost finance. The company currently executes nuclear reactors through a mix of debt and equity, budgetary support and debt financing from the technology sourcing country.Of the proposed capacity expansion, projects adding to 11,200 mw are planned to be set up through indigenous pressurised heavy water reactors and 34,100 mw from light water reactors. The balance are proposed through fast breeder reactors and advanced heavy water reactors of 500-1,000 MW.The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act 1962 was amended in January this year to expand the definition of a government company providing for creation of joint ventures that are majority owned by NPCIL while other state-run companies own 49%. At present only two PSUs – NPCIL and Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd, under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy – are authorised to set up nuclear power plants in the country. They are responsible for design, construction, commissioning and operation of thermal nuclear power plants.NPCIL had earlier floated joint ventures with NTPC, IOC and Nalco to set up nuclear power plants but the plans hit a roadblock as the law prohibits such joint ventures.A logical moveIt makes perfect sense for the Indian Railways to directly source power and avoid high wheeling charges. It may even make sense to invest in baseload nuclear power plants, provided the costs are attractive and the payback reasonable. However, the better option is for the Railways to acquire sector expertise and build conventional power plants with high thermal efficiency levels. It would make strategic sense to do so, given the heightened investment intentions (greater need for power) of the Railways.