India and Japan: News and Discussion

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 Mar 2015 15:31

Japan keen on our lawyers setting up shop there: Minister - Krishnadas Rajagopal, The Hindu

In a sign of the global arena opening up to Indian laws, Japan has written to the Centre inviting Indian lawyers and law firms to practise Indian laws there.

The Union Law Ministry has passed on the letter to the Bar Council of India (BCI), the country’s top regulator for legal education and practice, to study the offer and report on the extent to which the offer can be reciprocated from India’s side.

“Yes, Japan has written to us. We are taking the issue of opening up our legal sector on a positive note, but on the condition that it will increase the face-value of our lawyers globally and there will be a mutual exchange of lawyers, law firms,” Law Minister V. Sadananda Gowda told The Hindu on Tuesday.

“The Union Law Ministry has handed us Japan’s letter which says they [the Japanese] are ready and eager to invite and allow Indian lawyers and Indian law firms to practise Indian laws in Japan. The BCI is studying the proposal,” Manan Kumar Mishra, BCI chairperson, said.

Mr. Mishra and Mr. Gowda have held talks on opening up the Indian legal sector to foreign law firms.

“The Law Minister asked us to frame a rule on the ‘factum of reciprocity’ in the Advocates Act. This simply means we should examine the extent to which individual foreign countries are opening up to Indian lawyers and firms, and reciprocate to the same extent,” Mr. Mishra said.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 06 Mar 2015 17:07

http://thediplomat.com/2015/03/india-an ... raft-deal/

As India and Japan continue to strategically converge amid mutual fears regarding China’s rise, they have deepened their defense cooperation. Notably, India will likely be Japan’s first export partner for military hardware under Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s principles on defense equipment exports. The Japanese government recently lifted its decades-old self-imposed ban on exporting weaponry to other countries.

The two governments look all set to conclude a landmark deal for the sale of Japanese amphibious search and rescue (SAR) aircraft, a deal that has been in the works for years. India will likely purchase 12 ShinMaywa US-2 short take-off and landing (STOL) SARs this year (down from an earlier estimate of 15). Negotiations for the sale of the US-2 began in 2011 under the Democratic Party of Japan, first under Prime Minister Naoto Kan and then under Yoshihiko Noda.

The US-2 itself is a reliable and capable surveillance aircraft with a range of around 4,700 km, capable of transporting its crew and cargo from Indian territory to anywhere in the Indian Ocean region within 3 hours; its most notable feature is its ability to take-off and land at sea. Once acquired, India will likely station the US-2s off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, using the aircraft to conduct surveillance of the eastern Indian Ocean region. Indian military sources have also told the press that the US-2 will allow the Indian military to support friendly vessels in Southeast Asian waters, potentially detecting pirates and other threats.

ashish raval · Post by **ashish raval** » 07 Mar 2015 04:20

Japan has waited patiently over the years so that Indian skill set is good to go for their companies on the word go. Now that India has army of engineers well as middle management capable of running entire chain of small, medium and large scale industries, it has gone ahead of the pack of rest of the world like west to expand their roots India. If I were a Japanese premier the only place I would look to invest so that i can pay for pensions for the old population as well as for this generation in thirty years time is to invest in India. Once you create strong brand in the growing economy you can bank on the growth and spending power of the new age population to keep you growing. I am particularly interested in india developing HVAC machines and state of the art hydraulic and pneumatic machines or have ability to develop FPSO. Japanese are pretty good in most areas and the realtionship can be very symbiotic and win-win for all.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Mar 2015 06:21

A_Gupta wrote:http://thediplomat.com/2015/03/india-an ... raft-deal/
Notably, India will likely be Japan’s first export partner for military hardware under Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s principles on defense equipment exports.

Japan has already gifted/sold OPVs to the Philippines Coast Guard.

member_23370 · Post by **member_23370** » 07 Mar 2015 12:18

The aussie soryu deal is also there.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Mar 2015 15:01

Bheeshma wrote:The aussie soryu deal is also there.

The Soryu deal is still not struck whereas the OPVs are already in the PN.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 07 Mar 2015 20:09

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mag ... 480963.cms

With increasing Japanese participation in Indian business, the number of Japanese executives working in India is steadily growing. While the country doesn't offer many options for the community to meet their traditional lifestyle requirements, one problem that particularly sticks out - be it in New Delhi, Kolkata or Ahmedabad - is the shortage of restaurants serving authentic Japanese food.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 13 Mar 2015 16:10

http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index ... ies-137160

The 30th In-Nichi Bunkasai (Indo-Japan cultural festival) celebrates the cultural bond between India and Japan. It is a platform for the confluence of cultures where language is not a barrier," a Japan consulate statement said on Friday.

Organised by the consulate in collaboration with Nihongo Kaiwa Kyookai Society (a Japanese language organisation), the event will witness students and teachers of both countries perform songs, dances and skits at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture.

Songs by the children of the Japanese Supplementary School in Kolkata, a Japanese skit by the Japanese and Indian teachers, modern Indian dance, and a Japanese drama enacted by the Indian students are some of the items to be performed, the release said.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 13 Mar 2015 16:19

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 671_1.html

In pursuance of the spirit of the Tokyo Declaration for India-Japan Special and Global Partnership, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has set up a Special management team known as 'Japan Plus' to facilitate and fast track investment proposals from Japan and to support the Government of India in initiating, attracting, facilitating and handholding Japanese investments across sectors. The team has been operationalized w.e.f. October 8, 2014. The Team comprises four professionals from India and two representatives of the Government of Japan.

According to Japan Plus, the team has guided over 120 Japanese companies on various aspects of business. Japan Plus has discussed with several state governments for setting up Industrial Parks of international Standard in order to provide a ready-made operational platform with basic infrastructure. As per information available with Government, there was US$ 1,107.59 million inflow of Foreign Direct Investment from Japan to India during June, 2014 to December, 2014.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 15 Mar 2015 02:52

http://post.jagran.com/india-should-hos ... 1426328110

New Delhi: Japan on Saturday pitched for India as a host of the Olympic Games after 2020 in tune with its growing global stature and impressive economic growth.

Japanese Ambassador Takeshi Yagi said India was the only member-nation in the powerful BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping which has not yet hosted either the Olympic Games or the World Cup football competition and time has come for it to organise the international events.

Sounding upbeat over India's growth trajectory, he said according to a survey conducted by Japanese companies, India has become, for the first time, the most promising investment destination for the next three years.

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 15 Mar 2015 03:13

Japanese Ambassador Takeshi Yagi said India was the only member-nation in the powerful BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping which has not yet hosted either the Olympic Games or the World Cup football competition....

I'd love to keep things that way. And a rethink on staying in the "Commonwealth" would be welcome, while we're about it.

member_23370 · Post by **member_23370** » 15 Mar 2015 09:37

True..time to get out of that useless club.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 15 Mar 2015 09:45

what would that gain us ? better to stay in the tent, even if it be small and influence the other members in an environment where china or USA can't be around.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 15 Mar 2015 10:15

Olympics are bad luck in economy!!

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Mar 2015 10:30

Olympics are good money for japanese and western infrastructure and manufacturing companies.

& in any case be it olympics or any project, all that BBC and friends in western media will focus on will be some pan stained toilet in a remote under-progress worksite. Then all the media around the world will gather around that news report since half-the world lacks critical faculties of analysis. They are just happy to join in whatever orgasm and lovefest is launched by a BBC diva.

In India we will have a new Kalmadi building this infra. So the point behind olympics is ..

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 16 Mar 2015 22:45

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent ... rity-.aspx

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for reform in the United Nations and expressed his country's desire to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Kyodo Japanese news agency reported on Monday.

"Japan has been ready to earn being a permanent member for a long time," Abe said.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 18 Mar 2015 14:55

http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/ ... 719579.ece

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will go on his maiden foreign visit to Japan later this month as part of India's effort to step up its defence diplomacy.

Parrikar will undertake a two-day trip starting from March 30, the first foreign visit by an Indian Defence Minister since November 2013.

"A number of requests have come from various countries and a visit by Indian Defence Minister was due for a very long time. Parrikar is going as part of defence diplomacy to strengthen our bonds " defence sources said.

The last visit was undertaken by then Defence Minister A K Antony in November 2013, when he visited Russia.

Analysts point out that Parrikar's choice of Japan for his first international visit is of strategic importance.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 18 Mar 2015 15:04

Trade serves strategic purposes; that is my excuse for posting trade news on the strategic thread.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultryne ... s-to-japan

INDIA - Japanese companies are reported to be exploring the potential of joint ventures with Indian businesses for the processing and importation of poultry products.

India exports poultry products mostly to Oman, Germany, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, according to Economic Times of India. It also ships small quantities of egg powder to countries such as Japan.

Japan imports 880,000 tonnes a year, or more than one-third of its poultry product consumption of 2.21 million tonnes, mostly from China, Brazil, the US, Thailand and the Philippines.

India's poultry sector that currently reports insignificant exports is hoping for major orders from Japan, one of the world's largest importers of poultry products.

India is the world's second-largest egg producer, with 65 billion eggs a year, and the third largest broiler chicken producer, with 3.8 million tonnes of poultry meat with a total market size of about INR90 billion. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2014, it earned exports worth INR5.65 billion.

A delegation of Japanese companies, led by Mayekawa Manufacturing, visited India in February and expressed interest in exploring joint ventures with local partners for processing poultry products and importing them, given the cost advantages in the subcontinent.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 18 Mar 2015 16:46

Japan and NGOs: question - what do BRFers think - are Japanese-funded NGOs any less worrisome than Western-funded NGOs?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 609643.cms

NEW DELHI: Japan government today signed agreements with four Indian non-profit organisations, under which the Asian nation will financially aid them to improve infrastructure and expand their humanitarian activities.

The projects include expansion of vocational training centre for persons with disabilities in Delhi, construction of shelter homes in Amroha in Uttar Pradesh for destitute and helpless old-aged people picked up from the streets of Delhi.

The other two projects are - construction of community health clinic in Khamrang village, in Lolasib district in Mizoram and out-patient department for poor in Agra.

Ambassador of Japan to India Takeshi Yagi and representatives from the four organisations signed the agreements at the Japanese Embassy here under Japan's 'Grant Assistance for Grassroots Project (GGP)'.

"We cooperate with other countries in big projects like freight corridors, but we also look at smaller projects like these to build relations.

"And, the basic idea in all these projects here is human security, which facilitate sustainable self-reliance. This is one of the pillars of our cooperation and one of the pillars of our diplomatic efforts," Yagi said.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 18 Mar 2015 17:27

IMVHO, This is not a good development.

it is very difficult for any NGOs to stay away from influencing govt. policies. Infact the very existence of an NGO is to try and fill in the social voids left by the govt. in its policies and implementations and hence their very nature requires them to be political. So any NGO getting funded by an external entity must be seen as an attempt by that external entity to meddle in the internal affairs of India, no matter how noble the NGO's or its funder's intents are.

It is a very slippery slope that slides from genuine do-gooders to soft-imperialism. Especially so, once the do-gooders realize that they have enough political contacts and networks that can tangibly alter govt. policies.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 18 Mar 2015 20:27

Japan's NGOs are not religious/evangelical, so don't see why there should be any problems with them, as long as they do not indulge in politics. I think there are rules in the books against that already. Let's face it, the state and local governments do not seem to be anywhere near getting their act together, and the NGOs are filling a vacuum, and I am for any NGO that is not bankrolled by evangelical groups to do so. Mainly because, christian and muslim evangelical have shown nothing but hatred and animosity to local culture and imbibes that in anyone who converts to their religious delusions -- this has created a lot of distrust and fissures in society that India can do without. If religion is not involved, don't see why Japanese NGOs are not ok -- help from any quarter should be allowed. "soft-imperialism" is the same as "soft power" and it is not necessarily all bad, depending on whose soft power it is, of course. Japanese culture has a lot to teach, as we can see from how their society operates, and India would benefit from such cultural influence.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 18 Mar 2015 20:45

Tuvaluan wrote: Let's face it, the state and local governments do not seem to be anywhere near getting their act together, and the NGOs are filling a vacuum, and I am for any NGO that is not bankrolled by evangelical groups to do so. Mainly because, christian and muslim evangelical have shown nothing but hatred and animosity to local culture and imbibes that in anyone who converts to their religious delusions -- this has created a lot of distrust and fissures in society that India can do without.

Neglect by the state and poor governance is creating this vacuum. Indian voters by not voting for responsible govt over the last 30 years has created this situation. Indians are creating conditions for foreign intervention. Foreign countries are using NGO to engage inside India.
By bringing the Indian people into the governance issues and engaging the govt for public policies this can be changed.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 18 Mar 2015 20:56

Tuvaluan wrote:Japan's NGOs are not religious/evangelical, so don't see why there should be any problems with them, as long as they do not indulge in politics. I think there are rules in the books against that already. Let's face it, the state and local governments do not seem to be anywhere near getting their act together, and the NGOs are filling a vacuum, and I am for any NGO that is not bankrolled by evangelical groups to do so. Mainly because, christian and muslim evangelical have shown nothing but hatred and animosity to local culture and imbibes that in anyone who converts to their religious delusions -- this has created a lot of distrust and fissures in society that India can do without. If religion is not involved, don't see why Japanese NGOs are not ok -- help from any quarter should be allowed. "soft-imperialism" is the same as "soft power" and it is not necessarily all bad, depending on whose soft power it is, of course. Japanese culture has a lot to teach, as we can see from how their society operates, and India would benefit from such cultural influence.

THis is a long long shot, but EIC was a Brishit NGO.

What you mention as benefits can be completely achieved with the following :- Aid, targeted charitable investments, and educational institutions (to learn Japanese work culture).

That way the Japanese folks are empowering Indians to sort out policy holes by ourselves, I would rather take that over some or the other NGO belonging to another country taking up my case on my behalf in my own country.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 18 Mar 2015 21:51

"Japanese NGOs" strikes me as odd sounding simply because they're NGOs from that country. This is Japan we're talking about . They have an effective 'GO' whom the public largely has great trust in. An 'NGO' from there sounds like either just something like a Buddhist liaison agency, or a group of well wishing do-gooders, at face value. An NGO from South Korea would be another matter, though.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 18 Mar 2015 23:30

THis is a long long shot, but EIC was a Brishit NGO.

That is a bit of a stretch, given what the C in EIC stands for. I think this is a bit paranoid to the extreme. NGOs operating within boundaries to aid the public is not always a bad thing, and nothing to say that Indian NGOs are more pro-India and pro-Indians than foreign NGOs. Bill Gates's NGO achieved significant milestone in public health w.r.t. polio and Teesta Setalvad's Sabrang NGO did little more than political rabble rousing.

Anyway, OT all this -- only point I may have had was it may be ok to allow some NGOs to operate in India if they provide ideas for better policies down the line, by implementing them based on ground realities.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 19 Mar 2015 04:01

LokeshC, your concern is generally all right. However, you are stretching it too far in this specific instance, IMHO.

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 20 Mar 2015 01:15

Self-deleted
Already posted. Apologies.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Mar 2015 07:25

Now, opposition from Japan blocks India-U.S. deal - Suhasini Haider, The Hindu

Even as Indian and U.S. officials try to finalise “administrative arrangements” for the civilian nuclear deal, they have run into opposition from Japan. Sources have told The Hindu that lack of movement in the Indo-Japanese civilian nuclear deal may also stall the India-U.S. deal.

Significantly, while the issue of ‘liability’ has been resolved, according to U.S. and Indian government officials, the major opposition from Japan is over the issue of ‘tracking.’ As a result, even though U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were able to announce a “breakthrough agreement” on January 25 this year, the administrative arrangements are yet to be signed, and nuclear business seems a long way off.

The problems may be addressed on the sidelines of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s visit to Japan next week, while Mr. Modi is expected to use his visits to France and Canada next month to firm up nuclear commerce with those countries as a signal that India’s nuclear energy plans are not bound by the U.S. deal alone. {That is a message to Japan as well. Japan cannot endlessly hold us to something or the other just becuase it has been bombed seven decades back. It has moved on in many other areas and so it must on nuclear area as well especially in dealing with a friendly and equally pacifist India}

Japan must realize that India is not going to make any more concessions on tracking than what has already been agreed with the US recently which is to share the data collected on the usage of material and equipment, once annually.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 20 Mar 2015 09:02

SSridhar wrote:Now, opposition from Japan blocks India-U.S. deal - Suhasini Haider, The Hinduapan must realize that India is not going to make any more concessions on tracking than what has already been agreed with the US recently which is to share the data collected on the usage of material and equipment, once annually.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nucle ... er-Plants/

Bharat Forge can now do almost all which Japan can supply to India in pressure vessel/s, soon L& T will join.
The very heavy forging capacity in operation today is in Japan (Japan Steel Works), China (China First Heavy Industries, China Erzhong, SEC), France (Le Creusot), and Russia (OMZ Izhora).
New capacity is being built by JSW and JCFC in Japan, Shanghai Electric Group (SEC) and subsidiaries in China, and in South Korea (Doosan), Czech Rep (Pilsen) and Russia (OMZ Izhora and ZiO-Podolsk).
New capacity is planned in UK (Sheffield Forgemasters) and India (Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bharat Forge Ltd). In China the Harbin Boiler Co. and SEC subsidiary SENPE are increasing capacity.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Mar 2015 11:48

Japan firm on data sharing, weapons test conditions - Suhasini Haider, The Hindu

The two issues holding up the India-Japan civilian nuclear deal are data sharing and weapons testing. Japan wants India to give nation-specific data over nuclear material like uranium, plutonium and nuclear parts, which would account annually for every part of the nuclear chain, according to its manufacturing country.

The second issue, which is a red line for India, is that if India were to break its self-imposed moratorium on weapons testing, Japan wants an immediate cancellation of the civilian nuclear deal.

Japan would further seek a return of all Japanese-origin equipment and parts, which would damage India’s energy security considerably.

The negotiations from the Japanese side are hardened by the fact that Japan’s key negotiator and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is himself a staunch non-proliferationist, who belongs to Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities hit by atomic bombs by the U.S. in 1945, and insists on Japan’s key demand that India sign a test ban treaty (the NPT or the CTBT).

Indian officials say they are hopeful of concluding the deal with Japan but that it is “not critical” to the U.S. civil nuclear negotiations. During a briefing after Mr. Obama’s visit held by the then Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, officials said, in reply to a specific question about Japanese hurdles, that “there are alternatives available, and we do not think that the absence of an agreement with Japan is an obstacle to taking forward civil nuclear cooperation with the United States.”

However, in the weeks that have followed, some of those concerns have grown. To begin with, the U.S. companies that have been earmarked for nuclear plants in India — GE and Westinghouse — produce nuclear reactors with Japanese companies Mitsubishi and Toshiba respectively. Even if, as some industry insiders suggest, they ‘bypass’ them, there would remain the problem of critical components like the 400 MT metal casing containers made only by Japanese company Nisshin Seiko Steel (with the only exceptions being Made in China), sources said.

Further, the U.S. is part of a close knit group at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), along with Japan and also Australia, whose nuclear deal with India is still awaiting parliamentary clearance in Canberra.

An Australian Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties heard testimonies opposing the deal with India last month, although officials hope these will be overruled.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 20 Mar 2015 17:37

There you go again, closely knit NSG group. Time to fund our own R&D more and even more, including Thorium fuel cycle.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 20 Mar 2015 17:40

I hope the NGOs won't be used for this policy enforcement by Japan..... just saying.

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 20 Mar 2015 20:03

The smartest way is to stand firm and get to point where only the Japanese and Australians are the obstacles to US companies starting Indian projects. You'd be surprised how much pressure the the US will then bring to bear.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 20 Mar 2015 20:43

^^Precisely. Just because the Japanese had been bombed (not by us), I don't see why we should listen to such conditions. The Japanese are welcome to try to prevent the country that bombed them in the first place from going back in their nuclear posture (and the umbrella they get from the US). Till then all this non-proliferationist approach is just overreach. Modi's upcoming trip to France will be interesting, let's see if Areva is still interested.

On a related note, are we still building any new desi nuclear plants like Kaiga or Rawatbhata? Ultimately, that and the Th cycle are the way forward.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 20 Mar 2015 21:16

Perhaps by stopping this Indo-Japan Nuclear Agreement, Japan is trying to get back at USA, rather than India. After all, this agreement is supposed to help US companies set up shop in India, and sell their wares.

By delaying this agreement, Japan may be forcing India to look for alternatives, including indigenous production.

One can't be sure what is going on in the Japanese mind!!!

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Mar 2015 21:41

http://www.newkerala.com/news/2015/fullnews-33990.html

Akbaruddin said that around 100 officials from different countries with whom India is doing nuclear commerce are attending a workshop on India Nuclear Insurance Policy.

The officials are from Japan, including from Toshiba, and from Westinghouse, which is to set up the US built reactors in India.

The spokesperson said that "all the biggest names in the nuclear field", including from Russia's Rosatom are attending the workshop. "All those doing business in India are here, trying to work out and understand issues," he said.

The spokesperson said that "there is no truth in the assertion" that Japan was opposing the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal over the issue of fuel tracking or that India has delayed the administrative arrangements of the India-US civil nuclear deal.

He said that Japanese companies are present at the workshop here for discussions with Indian officials "in accordance with the directive" that the leaders gave during the India-Japan summit talks in Tokyo in September 2014.

"Any purported link between India's administrative arrangement with the US and India's negotiation with Japan is pure speculation."

The spokesperson also said that while India is keen on an early civil nuclear agreement with Japan, "the absence of an agreement with Japan is currently not an obstacle to ongoing cooperation with our other partners".

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 21 Mar 2015 04:22

No need to put-up with excessive and hypocritical Japanese diktats, go with French Technology.

French nuclear technology company Areva SA is ready to discuss transfer of technology with the Indian Government in order to speed up the process for signing a contract for the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra.“Areva is open for technology transfer with the Indian companies for making nuclear components and equipment, which would be used for the Jaitapur project,” Erwan Hinault, Chairman and Managing Director of Areva’s Indian arm, told BusinesLine.

As ‘Make in India’ has become a key policy of the Indian Government, Areva is open to any kind of technology transfer for this policy. But the components need to meet quality standards and be at a lower cost, he added.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is building the 10,000-MW power project in Jaitapur. Areva is hoping to sign a deal for supplying reactors for the project.In January 2009, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the companies for building two EPR reactors, each having 1,650 MW capacity. But the final commercial agreement is yet to be signed.

The EPR is a third generation pressurised water reactor. The main design objective of the reactor is enhanced safety. Once the agreement is signed, the entire nuclear supplier chain will open up for the Indian companies, said Hinault. In the Jaitapur project, Areva will supply the main reactor and other critical nuclear components. Main electrical equipment would be supplied by Alstom, while NPCIL will carry out Balance of Plant (critical subsystem in a power plant) and civil works.

“We at Areva want further localisation of components and we have explored this option a few months back. For example, if Indian companies can supply large forging, we are open to it,” Hinault said.

Large forgings like reactor pressure vessels, which houses the reactor core, needs to be made in large forging presses. Pressure vessels for new generation reactors need to be made in 14-15,000 tonnes forging presses, which should be able to accept hot steel ingots of 500-600 tonnes. Globally, only three companies dominate the market. Indian engineering giant L&T with its unit in Surat has made a start in this high-tech area.

Six years have passed since the MoU, but the companies have not been able to reach a final commercial contract. NPCIL wants the final price of per unit of power to be ₹6.5 when the plant becomes operational. Hinault said regular meetings are under way with NPCIL for reaching the target of ₹6.5 a unit. “It is not a perfect world, but we are meeting regularly. We are working on achieving the target. A finality in discussions would be reached when either NPCIL is satisfied or the target is reached,” he said.

Earlier the plan was to set up the plant by 2021, but given the delay, the commissioning could get postponed till 2024, he said.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 21 Mar 2015 11:38

Transfer of technology or ToT is more often than not one of those useless buzzwords in which nothing is gained except a big bill to pay. Mere assembly of foreign built maal is what takes place.

At the end of the day, the brains & experience of foreign scientists cannot be downloaded into the brains of our local scientists by handing over a wad of money.

Fukushima has crushed all hopes of the nuclear industry world wide. The babuz in India better be driving a hard bargain as there are no other customers for nuclear reactors around the world. Only India remains.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 21 Mar 2015 16:01

Arbitrarily putting this in the Japan thread:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/sou ... 65375.html

Seoul: The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan pledged to pave the way for a trilateral leadership summit as they met in Seoul on Saturday for the first time in nearly three years.

The talks were an effort to calm regional tensions stoked by territorial disputes and historical rows with roots in Japan`s colonisation of the Korean peninsula and occupation of parts of China before and during World War II.

In a joint statement, the three countries said they had agreed to set up a three-way summit of their respective leaders "at the earliest convenient time."

(Another excuse for Mr Eleven and Mr Fiftyone not to visit Pakistan

)

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 21 Mar 2015 16:06

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/jap ... 65316.html

Tokyo: Japan and the United States held a ceremony Saturday to mark the 70th year since the bloody Battle of Iwojima near the end of World War II.

Japan sent two cabinet ministers to the annual ceremony for the first time: Welfare Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani.

Significance of this I do not understand.