A team from General Electric and Westinghouse Electric Company of the US is in the capital to explore business opportunities in nuclear power.

The two companies will seek Indian partners with whom they can set up factories to make or assemble reactors, castings and forgings. The factory based could also be used for exports to third countries.

The team’s arrival coincided with the signing of a civil nuclear cooperation deal with Russia. India now has similar deals with half a dozen countries.

Westinghouse is exploring joint ventures with over 20 companies with experience in making power equipment, said the US company’s vice president for global growth, Meena Mutalaya.

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy is also on the same search. Its senior vice- president for nuclear power projects, Danny Roderick, said it was looking for Indian companies that met American standards and codes.

“There is no list of companies we are in talks with. The big ones for us are Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge and Bhel. Tatas and NTPC are good examples. India is a very rich environment for us to find skilled engineers. We would set up facilities through set contracts,” he said.

“We have to set up another centre in Asia, apart from Japan. India will be a key partner for us in all forms of business. In nuclear energy, specially, we think the country is going to help us to be more competitive worldwide,” Roderick said.

He said, “Every contract we ride, we not only want to use it for plants in India, but also create capacities for plants in Europe, Asia, and the US, as that will help us be more competitive in the supply chain.”

GE-Hitachi already has preliminary contracts with Larsen & Toubro and Bhel. These contracts will help build resources in the manufacture and construction of multiple-unit advanced boiling water reactor nuclear power stations.

Westinghouse’s Mutalaya said the committed would work with government and private organisations to meet India’s needs for nuclear power.

Besides selling reactors, Westinghouse is also looking for Indian partners for equipment sourcing, engineering and development. It hopes to leverage India’s capabilities for the global nuclear industry.

But the efforts of GE and Westinghouse can fructify only after India and the US agree on non-proliferation assurances and export licensing issues. Only after that the US department of energy can begin issuing specific authorisation for India.

The authorisation is necessary for any exchange of nuclear power technology and services.

Officials of both companies added that much progress had been made since prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US.

India has set a target of 30,000 mw of nuclear power capacity by 2020.