UPDATE: UK Cable: Govt To Allow Civil Nuclear Exports To India

28th Jul 2010 17:32

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Business Secretary Vince Cable Wednesday said the government plans to allow the export of the U.K.'s civil nuclear technology and expertise to India for the first time. The plan comes despite previous security concerns as India isn't a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Following a meeting in New Delhi Wednesday with Srikumar Banerjee, India's Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Cable said the two countries were looking to strengthen their "civil nuclear partnership". "There are sensitivities we are conscious of, as are the Indian Government, but within those constraints we want to really push ahead with civil nuclear co-operation," he said. Cable said the U.K. was a global leader in the civil nuclear industry and British companies such as Serco Group PLC (SRP.LN) and Rolls-Royce Group (RR.LN) could do a large amount of business in India. Cable, who is in India as part of the U.K. government's delegation to promote trade-ties between the two countries, said it was agreed Wednesday that annual meetings will be held between British and Indian nuclear scientists to discuss their research programs and that direct contact between the respective industries would begin as soon as possible. A U.K. Trade & Investment spokeswoman said the U.K. was keen to work with India after signing of a civil nuclear cooperation declaration in February. "The UK has considerable expertise in this area with 80,000 people working in civil nuclear and exports of around £700 million," she said. The U.S. sanctioned the export of civil nuclear technology to India in 2008. By Ainsley Thomson, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9318; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 28, 2010 12:32 ET (16:32 GMT)