NPCIL to buy land for projects before fund sanction

New Delhi: In a bid to expedite the pace at which nuclear power projects are set up, the Centre has given state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) the nod to commence land acquisition activity prior to receiving financial sanction for the project.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs authorised the NPCIL board to initiate the process of land acquisition as a pre-project activity, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, told reporters here. He said the delegation of power to NPCIL would considerably shorten the duration of project implementation as a result of advance actions in acquisition of land through the State machinery which involves lengthy procedures.

The NPCIL can initiate the process of land acquisition immediately after the decision is taken to locate the nuclear reactor at a particular site. “The financial sanction process can run in parallel to the land acquisition,” Mr Chidambaram said. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and the Cabinet Committee on Security have already given their go ahead for the proposal.

NPCIL has been trying to cut down on project gestation period — time between the first pour of concrete and achieving criticality — for each of its projects over the years. The gestation period ranges between four to five years at present.