India joined a select band of nations on Monday when the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) here successfully manufactured critical tubes required for steam generators of nuclear power plants.

Currently, only three companies in the world are producing the UNS NO8800 U tubes with NFC becoming the fourth entity. The first tubing consignment was handed over to Larsen & Toubro, which is manufacturing eight steam generators for Kakrapara (3 and 4 units) and Rajasthan (7 and 8 units) nuclear power plants being set up by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).