Ranjit Devraj's articles

NEW DELHI, India—When India's central government passed the long-delayed Indo-U.S. nuclear agreement in 2008 and implemented plans to add 40 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2020—10 times its current capacity—it certainly didn't foresee what would happen next. A rare grassroots uprising led by farmers and fisherman took shape in three major states to block atomic megaprojects that locals say would threaten their traditional livelihoods.

Nor did national leaders expect India's intelligentsia—led by retired judges, military leaders, scientists, bureaucrats and academics—to get behind the farmers and fishers and build up such a wall of resistance that some fear it could scuttle billion-dollar deals to import reactors and quash several nuclear projects.

But that's what has happened. Their grievances have now made their way to India's Supreme Court, which is considering a petition to put a stay on nuclear construction until safety reviews of existing plants and those planned along the peninsular coastline are completed.

If the court sides with petitioners it could drive away crucial foreign investment in the rapidly growing nuclear program, local experts say.

NEW DELHI, India—The Indian government has said it is determined to push ahead with the world's biggest nuclear power plant on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra in western India. But popular opposition to the project is unlikely to die down anytime soon.

In August, the People's Tribunal on the Safety, Viability and Cost Efficiency of Nuclear Energy will present its eagerly awaited findings on the safety of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project. The roughly $12 billion complex will include six controversial Evolutionary Pressurized Reactors (EPR) built by French power developer Areva SA and generate 9,900 megawatts of electricity.

The independent people's tribunal has many notable members and could wield moral authority on the matter, but has no legal power to enforce its judgments and findings. Observers agree an uphill battle awaits opponents.

Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh — who appeared to have a rethink over the project in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan — has in recent weeks reiterated an earlier position that constructing the plant is "not an environmental concern," perhaps under pressure from the prime minister's office.

Ramesh has said that, as far as he is concerned, the environmental clearance accorded to the nuclear mega-complex by his ministry on Nov. 28, 2010, stands.

But critics argue that the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the plant was rushed through in time for a Dec. 4-7 state visit by French President Nikolas Sarkozy.

NEW DELHI—India's ambitious plans to quadruple its nuclear output by 2020, from the current 4,650 megawatts to 20,000 megawatts, may have taken a hit from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. 

The country's nuclear power expansion depends heavily on imports of nuclear equipment, leveraging the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, which was sealed in 2008, and the India-specific waiver that Washington pursued with the 45-member nuclear suppliers group (NSG) of nations. 

But in the wake of the Japan disaster, concerns are being raised about the safety risks of a new type of third-generation European reactor that India has selected for its next nuclear wave.

At the same time, Jairam Ramesh, minister for environment and forests, is urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to commission homemade reactors only.

For Singh, who oversaw three years of difficult negotiations with U.S. officials and steered the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal through India's parliament, such calls represent a major setback.

NEW DELHI—India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, is fond of saying that the policy of his ministry is to strike a balance between economic development and environmental protection.

But his critics aren't convinced. Currently, they're trying to figure out if the country's ecological needs even entered Ramesh's mind last month when he gave clearance to Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) to build a controversial $12 billion steel mill in India's eastern Orissa state.

To be fair, it was a proposal Ramesh wasn't likely to refuse. The South Korean steel giant was bringing the biggest-ever foreign direct investment (FDI) into India. Word had gone round that it would be seen as a test case for the seriousness of this country's economic liberalization program.

In fact, South Korea's trade minister, Kim Jong-hoon, minced no words during a visit to India in late January when he said that future investments from his country would hinge on POSCO's fate.

Ramesh has himself said that projects like POSCO have considerable economic, technological and strategic significance for a major developing country like India.

NEW DELHI—India is going full-steam ahead with plans to build a type of power plant that converts garbage to power, despite fears by some that it could amount to a pollution disaster in a country without strong air quality regulations.

Construction of cleaner-burning waste-to-energy facilities is gathering pace across Europe. But the situation in India is different, opponents say.