Durban, Mar 27 (PTI): The controversial Kudankulam Unit I of the atomic power reactor in Tamil Nadu will become operational by next month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

He gave this assurance to Russian President Vladimir Putin when the two met here late on Tuesday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

“I am pleased to inform you that Kudankulam I will become operational and critical by next month. As for Units III and IV we have secured all internal approvals and we hope to operationalise our cooperation on Unit III and IV,” Singh told Putin.1

Mr.Singh was accompanied by Finance Minister P.Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon among others during the meeting.

Kudankulam atomic power plant has been rocked by a major controversy with villagers in and around Kudankulam in Tiruneveli district carrying out prolonged protests against the commissioning of the atomic power plant. The protests got intensified after the Fukushima disaster in Japan last year.

On bilateral economic cooperation, Mr. Singh said the two countries cannot be satisfied with the status quo.

On his part, Mr. Putin thanked the Prime Minister for the warm welcome he had received in December when he visited Delhi last year and hoped that Mr. Singh would visit Russia for the G20 summit.

Mr. Singh said India did not miss any opportunities for meeting the Russian President. He said India was satisfied with the pace of the programme of communication and cooperation between the two countries.

“I have instructed National Security Adviser to keep in touch with the NSA of Russia and those who are responsible for the strategic programme,” he said.