India is unlikely to open up nuclear power for the private sector No sooner had the Nuclear Suppliers Group approved India-specific waivers than the private sector announced a number of projects. But this enthusiasm may be short-lived as India does not allow the private sector in nuclear power, keeping the domain strictly for Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). Indications are that the government is not going to rush into amending the Atomic Energy Act to throw open the nuclear power business to private players. At best, the government would encourage such plants on a public-private partnership mode, and that too with domestic private companies. According to Jairam Ramesh, minister of state for power, the immediate priority is to get fuel from other countries to enable the existing power units of NPCIL to step up production. The other priority is to get equipment forNPCIL'snew plants. In this, apart from France's Areva, Japan's Mitsubishi and US's GE and Rolls-Royce, India's L&T and state-owned Bharat Heavy Electri-cals (Bhel) will be the biggest beneficiaries. The government is actively pushing L&T, which has a tie-up with Mitsubishi, as the second major equipment supplier.