Hyderabad, April 30: In view of the acute shortage of power faced by industries, the State Government was keen on seeing a couple of nuclear plants coming up, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said here today, and added that he was sure the response from the Department of Atomic Energy would be positive.
Elaborating, he said the Atomic Minerals Directorate had prospected for uranium in the Kadapa Basin and there were indications of a 160-km-long uranium mineralisation belt.
The chief minister was speaking at a function marking the handing over of the fuelling machine manufactured by MTAR Technologies at Balanagar to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
He noted that MTAR Technologies Private Limited was catering to the needs of the Department of Atomic Energy, Nuclear Power Corporation, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Ministry of Defence, and it was due to its proven record that BARC had awarded it the prestigious order.
Rosaiah stated that the company was also manufacturing other very intricate items for 500 MW Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam.
The chief minister said the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), a Government of India undertaking, was planning to establish a uranium-based plant in Pulivendula in Kadapa district.
The State Government had granted a mining lease over an extent of about 800 hectares for a period of 30 years and the project was in the pipeline.
It would help industries take up manufacture of nuclear power equipment, he said, and urged dignitaries present at the function to take a serious look at this segment.
He described nuclear power as the cleanest and least-polluting.
Congratulating MTAR Technologies chairman P Ravindra Reddy, the chief minister noted the former was also the president of the Aerospace Manufacturers Association, had formed the SAMUHA Group of Industries and was in the process of establishing an aerospace SEZ in Hyderabad, notified by the Government of India.
Industries minister K Laxminarayana and Nuclear Power Corporation CMD SK Jain were among those who participated in the programme.
–Agencies