India, Russia explore cooperation on small modular reactors, floating nuclear power plants
New Delhi (PTI): Selection of a site for building a second nuclear power plant with Russian reactors in India and cooperation on small modular reactors figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
The two sides discussed cooperation in the civil nuclear energy domain in the context of ramping up generation of clean energy.
"Energy security has been a strong and vital pillar of the India-Russia partnership. Our decades-old cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy has played an important role in advancing our shared clean-energy priorities," Modi said in his media statement.
"We will continue to take this win-win cooperation forward," he said.
In the talks, the two sides reviewed the implementation of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.
The plant is being built with the assistance of Russia's state-run nuclear corporation, Rosatom.
"Getting this nuclear power plant to full power output will make an impressive contribution to the energy requirements of India. It will help supply Indian enterprises and houses with cheap and clean energy," Putin said.
"We presume that we could talk about the construction of small modular reactors and floating nuclear power plants and non-energy application of nuclear technologies, for example in medicine or agriculture," he said.
It is learnt that both sides discussed the possibility of cooperation on construction of small modular reactors.
A joint statement issued after the summit said the two sides confirmed their intention to broaden cooperation in nuclear energy, including fuel cycle, life cycle support for operating Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) and non-power applications.
It said cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy and related high technologies under a new agenda was also discussed.
The two sides noted the importance of the cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy as a significant component of the strategic partnership taking into account India's plans to increase nuclear energy capacity to 100 GW by 2047, it added.
The joint statement said the two sides "noted the importance of further discussion on the second site in India" for a nuclear power plant, and that the Indian side will strive to finalise formal allotment of the second site in accordance with earlier signed agreements.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a media briefing that a number of critical shipments for the third and fourth reactors at Kudankulam are underway.
"When it comes to the second site (for a nuclear power plant), this is an issue that has been under discussion between the two countries for some time now," he said.
Last month, Rosatom's director general Alexey Likhachev held wide-ranging talks with Department of Atomic Energy chairman Ajit Kumar Mohanty on civil nuclear cooperation between the two sides.
"Relevant organisations are currently developing technical specifications for a new nuclear power plant in India featuring VVER-1200 reactor units," Rosatom had said.
"New areas of cooperation are also under discussion - including the construction of small modular reactors (SMRs) of Russian design in India.
In April 2024, Rosatom presented its Indian partners with information on the corporation's floating nuclear power solutions," it said.
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RBI does not target any band for rupee, allows it to find its own level: Guv Malhotra
Mumbai (PTI): Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said the central bank does not target any band for the rupee in the forex market, and allows the domestic currency to find its own correct level.
The governor's statement came at a time when the rupee breached the 90-mark against the US dollar, and is hovering near that level.
"We don't target any price levels or any bands. We allow the markets to determine the prices. We believe that markets, especially in the long run, are very efficient. It's a very deep market," he said while replying to a question on rupee depreciation at a post-monetary policy press meet.
Malhotra said fluctuations in the market keep taking place, and the effort of the RBI is always to reduce any abnormal or excessive volatility.
"And that is what we will continue to endeavour," he added.
In its bi-monthly monetary policy, the RBI announced three-year USD/INR Buy Sell swaps of USD 5 billion this month.
When asked if the USD-INR swap is aimed at checking rupee depreciation, Malhotra said, "It is a liquidity measure. It is not to support the rupee".
Stressing that RBI does not target any level of rupee against the US dollar, he said the central bank allows "the rupee find its correct position, correct level".
The governor further said the country has sufficient foreign exchange reserves and the current account is manageable, and given the strong fundamentals of the economy, the country should witness good capital flows going forward.
Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) to India recorded a net outflow of USD 0.7 billion in 2025-26, so far (April-December 03), due to unabated withdrawal from the equity segment.
Flows under external commercial borrowings and non-resident deposit accounts moderated compared to the last year.
As of November 28, 2025, India's foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 686.2 billion, providing a robust import cover of more than 11 months.
The governor further said that, having reduced the policy rate (repo) by 25 basis points, the focus will now be on transmission of the rate cut to the real economy.
According to the RBI's November bulletin, the depreciation of the rupee in October was due to a stronger dollar, following the US Fed's policy announcement to lower the Federal funds rate.
Nevertheless, strong fundamentals, such as stable inflation, a resilient growth outlook for the Indian economy, a narrower current account deficit, steady services exports, robust private remittances, and robust foreign exchange reserves, have contributed to the rupee being the least volatile among emerging market and developing economies.
The rupee has performed better than the Euro, and its depreciation has been in line with that of other currencies, such as the Japanese Yen and the Korean Won (for April to November 2025-26).
The central bank has announced various measures over the last 3 years to diversify and expand the sources of foreign exchange funding, aiming to mitigate exchange rate volatility and dampen global spillovers.
The RBI bi-monthly policy in October had announced some measures to enhance the use of the rupee in international trade.
