Both Westinghouse and General Electric stand to be the main beneficiaries of the recent Indian announcement regarding site allocation supporting US technologies. These companies have been established in India for decades.

'With this major milestone, we now look forward to India allowing the full-scale participation of the dynamic Indian private sector in India's civil nuclear build-out,' Somers said.

'As India's private sector joins in this activity, Indian firms will seek, as US firms do, limits on liability in the event of a mishap,' he said.

'US companies have been pressing India to sign-on to the international Convention of Supplementary Compensation, which would limit liability to privately held companies in the event of an accident.'

The 'allotment of nuclear sites for US technology is a welcome first step towards what promises to be a long and fruitful partnership between US and Indian companies,' said Somers.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)