U.S. energy firm Westinghouse is expected to sign a new agreement with state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India for the supply of six nuclear reactors aiming to kick start a long-running project.

The agreement will lay out timelines and the lead local constructor for the reactors to be built at Kovvada in southern India and also address lingering concerns over India's nuclear liability law.

The United States has been discussing the sale of nuclear reactors to energy-hungry India since a 2008 landmark civil nuclear energy pact and last year the two governments announced they were committed to the establishment of the six reactors.

Last week representatives from U.S. energy and commerce departments, Westinghouse, the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum and The Nuclear Energy Institute were in India for talks with government officials as part of a commercial mission to promote nuclear exports to India.

Washington made an exception for India by agreeing to provide it civilian nuclear energy technology even though it has not given up its nuclear weapons programme.

A longstanding obstacle has been the need to bring Indian liability rules in-line with international norms, which require the costs of any accident to be channelled to the operator rather than the maker of a nuclear power station.

India has made clear there is no going back on the 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage law that foreign governments and vendors say leaves open the possibility of lawsuits against suppliers for nuclear accidents, rather than the operators of the plants. By the virtue of Section 17 of the 2010 Act an operator has the right to recourse against the supplier.

India expects to generate 22,480 MW of electricity from nuclear stations by 2031 up from the 2019 level of 6780 MW.

But with renewable power dropping in price and the government's focus on solar power generation, there is a chance nuclear power will remain only small proportion of the country's energy mix where it stands at 1.9 percent.