Will continue nuke bids in India: Westinghouse

Westinghouse Electric Company, which is the US unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corporation, filed the Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court of New York on Wednesday, raising uncertainties over the implementation of the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal. However, a Westinghouse spokesperson told PTI , “We are continuing with our India bids.” Westinghouse is to build six reactors in India under the Indo-US civil nuclear deal inked in 2005.

The Westinghouse is currently holding commercial negotiations with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for the construction of the reactors. India and the US were hoping to operationalise the pact by June, 2017.

Toshiba’s loss-hit US nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Company has filed for bankruptcy protection, the companies said on Thursday, as the troubled division wrestles with huge losses and accounting fraud claims. “Westinghouse Electric and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, today filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code,” the US firm said in a statement. 

“The company is seeking to undertake a strategic restructuring as a result of certain financial and construction challenges,” said Westinghouse, which is based outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Toshiba has previously warned it was facing a writedown topping 700 billion yen (USD 6.3 billion) at Westinghouse. The Japanese conglomerate’s shares have lost more than half their market value since December 2016 when Toshiba warned of a flood of red ink at Westinghouse and said it was investigating whistleblower claims of possible accounting fraud by senior executives at the division. Japanese financial regulators have given the company until April 11 to publish results for the October-December quarter.