Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday will chair the meeting of the full panel of the Planning Commission to discuss the integrated energy policy and take stock of the country's nuclear energy programme.
He is scheduled to take off to United States on Monday to attend the meeting of the 63rd session of UN General Assembly in New York.
The meeting holds significance as the Prime Minister is likely to ink the civil nuclear deal with the United States. The energy security is vital at the backdrop of growing concerns of fluctuating oil prices.
The draft of the integrated energy policy, which will be discussed at the meeting, has underlined the need for augmenting the supply of uranium to speed up the pace of development of nuclear power.
The panel will discuss the ways of augmenting power supply by increasing generation from nuclear power as India has successfully secured the clean exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG).
Members at the meeting will also hold discussion on crucial issues relating to the power sector, focus on reforms in the distribution sector and review of the capacity addition programme for the 11th five-year Plan. The deliberation will also take place on open access and competition in power sector, which Dr. Singh has been stressing.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is also slated to visit US to meet President George Bush for reviewing the progress made to the 123 Nuclear Agreement and the nuclear energy requirements of India.
The meeting will also be attended by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Human Resource and Development Minister Arjun Singh, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Singh will depart for the US on the nine-day official tour including France on Monday.
Briefing media on Singh's visit, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said on Friday that the Prime Minister is likely to focus on issues relating to combating terrorism, promoting a comprehensive disarmament, global economy and expansion of the UN Security Council.
Menon also confirmed bilateral meeting with the Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of General Assembly meeting. Cross-border trade and terror will be the prime agenda in the discussion with these two leaders.
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