Top Russian honour for Kundankulam N-plant director

New Delhi, June 11: Director of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) site Ramayahi Shanmugam Sundar has been awarded the prestigious Order of Friendship by Russia.

Russian Ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin presented the coveted award in the presence of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Saturday (June 10).

The Order of Friendship was established in 1994 to reward Russian and foreign citizens for special merit in promoting peace, friendship, cooperation and understanding between nations.

Tatiana Kutinova, Press Attaché, Embassy of the Russian Federation in New Delhi told OneIndia on Saturday that the award was declared via a decree by the Russian President Vladimir Putin in January this year.

"We kept the award at the Embassy as he (Shanmugam Sundar) couldn't receive it earlier," Tatina said.

According to the text of the decree, signed by Putin, R S Sundar "was awarded for the major contribution to the implementation of the NPP Kudankulam Project."

"The construction process of new blocks at the Kudankulam site is progressing in accordance with the perspective plan of Russian-Indian cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. Unit-2 of the KNPP is ready to produce electricity and will be connected to the national grid in a few days," the Russian ambassador said.

While receiving the award, Sundar expressed his gratitude for the recognition of the labour of all Indian workers and specialists engaged in the implementation of the project.

The Kudankulam NPP is being built with Russian technical assistance under the inter-governmental agreement signed in 1988.

In 2014, India and Russia signed a general framework agreement for construction of the second stage, including the third and fourth blocks.

Oneindia News