LONDON - Britain and India have reached an outline agreement on cooperation in the nuclear fuel sector, British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said on Thursday.

British trade officials said the agreement would create possible opportunities across the nuclear supply chain.

British companies are keen to collaborate with Indian companies in the civil nuclear field. These companies have expertise in design, construction and management of nuclear plants as well as in radiation detection and monitoring.

We've got an agreed text on civil nuclear cooperation. This is a very, very significant advance, Mandelson told reporters after meeting Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.

I look forward to that text being signed off at ministerial level before long, Mandelson added.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; editing by James Jukwey)

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