New Delhi, JULY 5, SPA -- India's federal cabinet Thursday approved thecountry's participation in the International ThermonuclearExperimental Reactor (ITER) project aimed at demonstrating thefeasibility of controlled nuclear fusion as a source of energy, REPORTED DPA. India will invest Rs. 25 billion (about 612 million dollars) inthe project, an official release said. India's Institute of Plasma Research has been authorized toconstitute a board with the powers required for effectiveimplementation of the project, federal Minister for Information andBroadcasting Priya Ranjan Das Munshi said after a cabinet meetingchaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Considering India's large energy needs in future, our gainingtechnological capability in fusion energy will be of considerablelong-term benefit," Das Munshi said. He said participation in the project would allow India to advanceits technological capability in fusion energy. The cost of the ITER reactor, to be built at Cadarache in southernFrance, is estimated at 5 billion Euros and operating it over 20years would cost another 5 billion Euros. The reactor is scheduledto be completed by 2018. The European Union will contribute half the cost of the projectwhile the rest is to be divided equally among the other six partners. Besides India, they are China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and theUnited States. India, which was accepted as a partner in the project with thestrong backing of the US, sees it as recognition of its scientificand technological capability in the area of fusion energy and an acknowledgment that it is a responsible nuclear-capable state. The ITER project aims to see whether it is practicable to usenuclear fusion to produce electricity in a safe and environmentallyfriendly way. Nuclear fusion is a process in which atomic nuclei are forcedtogether, releasing great amounts of energy. The process is viewed asbeing far more efficient and cleaner than nuclear fission, which iscurrently used in nuclear power plants.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/464993