Days after France got the first-mover advantage by agreeing to set in motion its nuclear deal with India, top officials and industry representatives from Britain and Canada on Monday also came calling to take their share of India?s multi-billion dollar nuclear pie.

India has raised its nuclear capacity target to 63,000 megawatts by 2030 and the estimated cost for its development and generation is $80 billion. Lord Peter Mandelson, UK?s secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, addressing the CII Partnership Summit, said he has brought to India a team of the UK?s best civil nuclear technology experts.

?Over the next couple of days we will be working with Indian counterparts to identify opportunities for further collaboration. Indeed, across the whole green collar sector, I want to give UK companies a chance to benefit from exposure to India?s embrace of the low carbon agenda,? Mandelson said.

Among the officials accompanying Mandelson to India are academicians, legal experts, representatives of Weir Power, ANTEC, Rolls Royce Nuclear, Thompson Valves, Lloyd Register Group, Urenco Enrichment Co, Centronic, AMEC and from the Nuclear Industry Association, sources said. They are here on a five-day tour, sources said, adding that India and UK are looking at announcing a joint nuclear cooperation declaration by 2009-end.

UK?s nuclear goods and equipment exports are worth 700 million pounds and its civil nuclear industry provides employment to 80,000 people. UK nuclear industry is also keen to provide 70 to 80% of a new nuclear reactor in India.

Jairam Ramesh, minister of state for power and commerce, later chaired an India-UK meeting of its officials in the nuclear field and asked Britain to give their inputs on training of personnel in the nuclear sector. He said cooperation between India and UK universities would be of great help in this regard. Ramesh said there were also opportunities for India-UK tie-ups in nuclear consultancy and safety.

However, pointing out strategic and environmental reasons, the minister said only the public sector would take part in the initial phase of nuclear power generation. He said private participation would be welcome after the first five years.