In a historic moment for the India-US Civil Nuclear deal, signed two decades ago, the US Department of Energy or DOE has given the final approval of an American company to jointly design and build nuclear power plants in India.
Although the overall outline of the Indo-American citizen nuclear deal was signed in 2007 by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then US President George W. Bush, it has taken the end of about 20 years of negotiations, detailed discussion, legal and regulator approval, technology permits, liability clause, and Blooprint’s fine-interaction of the Blooprint.
‘Big victory’ for Indian diplomacy
So far, Indo-American citizens can export nuclear reactors and equipment to India to India firms, but can forbid them to create any design work or nuclear equipment in India. New Delhi was firm that everything was everything from the transfer of design, manufacturing and technology in India. The gradual governments remained firm with this. Now, after many years, and Russia acquired land, the US has agreed to the terms set by New Delhi. The US and Indian firms will now jointly build small modular reactors or SMRs and will also co-build all its components and parts. It is being seen as a major victory for Indian diplomacy. The approval was given on March 26, 2025.
However, the US has set a condition-that these jointly designed and manufactured nuclear power plants “will not be re-transferred to any other unit or final user in India or other countries except the United States government.”
Professional capacity for civil nuclear power in India is largely, the US government said, as the Department of Energy has provided a specific authority to the proposal of Holtek International in relation to the restricted rules.
The approval that the regulation received was 10cFR810 – which is 810 of the title 10 of the Code of Federal Rules of the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954. It is “related to DOE’s” statutory responsibility for the transfer and assistance of undue nuclear technology for foreign nuclear power activities in the United States or abroad. ,
Based on the application of Holtec International, the authority allows the company to transfer the “uninterrupted small modular reactor (SMR) technology” to three Indian firms. This includes:
- Larsen & Toubro Limited
- Tata consulting engineers limited
- Holtech Asia, a regional subsidiary of Holtech.
Holtek International – A Global Leader
The US-based Holtec International, a global energy firm, is owned and promoted by Indian-American entrepreneur Krishna P Singh. Its fully owned Asia’s subsidiary – Holtec Asia – has been working since 2010 and has been headquartered in Pune, where it also runs its special engineering division. It also has a manufacturing plant in Dahaj, Gujarat located in Bharach district.
Holtech is considered one of the world’s largest exporters of nuclear technology, components and parts. It is also a global leader in the declaration sector, which ensures safe and environmentally responsible removal of the industrial infrastructure.
Holtec International also sought approval for two-owned firms of the Government of India that provide electricity to the end-users, and a government regulator to ensure safety criteria. These corporations were:
- Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited or NPCIL
- National Thermal Power Corporation or NTPC
- Nuclear power review board or aerb
However, the Government of India did not provide necessary approval for the corporations owned by these states as Holtech had not yet received approval from the US Energy Department. Now that it has met the US government, it will probably appeal to the Government of India to give permits for these major Indian institutions.
Competition with China
The agreement between Washington and New Delhi to jointly design and build nuclear power plants in India, as well as the agreement for the transfer of technology is being seen as a large -scale diplomatic achievement. This is because it comes at a time when the Trump administration wants to promote manufacturing in the US and promote ‘Made-in-USA’ equipment globally. At such a time, the nuclear reactors being made in India show a big benefit for India.
The deal is also seen as a major win for the private sector of India, which will specialize and expertly specialize and expertly in design and construction of nuclear power plants – something that was still only under the domain of government corporations.
India currently specializes in small nuclear reactors with a capacity of 220mwe Phwr or pressure on heavy water reactors, now will receive technology for the construction of nuclear power plants with more advanced technology of PWR or pressure water reactors. Globally, most nuclear plants run on this technology.
The joint Indo-American step also comes at a time when China is increasing its plan to lead globally in small modular reactor (SMR) location by competitive pricing. The affordable SMR is an important requirement for the global South to progress in a cost -effective manner, and both India and China are competing with each other in their outreach in the global south.
