Belgium's John Cockerill eyes India's nuclear and cooling markets

The company is also expanding footprint in India's defence sector with a JV partner to make turrets for light tanks

- Rituraj Baruah

As India ramps up efforts to expand its nuclear power capacity, Belgium-headquartered engineering firm John Cockerill is positioning itself to supply key services and equipment for upcoming projects, chief executive Francois Michel said in an interview.

The company, which has deep roots in the nuclear sector, is also looking to establish cooling towers for these plants through its subsidiary, John Cockerill Hamon.

"We have a strong presence in nuclear. Historically, in Belgium, we built core nuclear reactors...assembled in our facilities. We are one of the large critical suppliers of EDF in France for large reactors, so we have a big maintenance services business for nuclear reactors...retain core expertise to maintain them, and also for critical parts of the nuclear cycle, in particular, cooling."