New Delhi, June 12 -- India's new law to overhaul the nuclear energy sector has opened the door for France's state-run multinational EDF to engage with private Indian players to explore the setting up of nuclear power plants, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France. Cooperation in defence, civil nuclear energy, technology and critical materials and coping with the economic and geopolitical fallout of the West Asia conflict are set to top the agenda for Modi's visit to France beginning on June 13 to attend the outreach sessions of the G7 Summit and to hold bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. While India and France have engaged in discussions on cooperation in civil nuclear energy for many years, there were several challenges such as financing and the cost of electricity, but the passage of the SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) Act had opened the doors for the participation of India's private sector, the people said on condition of anonymity. The EDF Group is in "active discussions with all big Indian players wanting to enter the sector", one of the people said. "We are beginning a new phase of discussions and hope to have a clear picture by the end of the year," he said. Piyush Srivastava, additional secretary (Europe West) in the external affairs ministry, told a media briefing that civil nuclear energy is an area of strategic cooperation with France and with the passing of the SHANTI Act, both sides are discussing greater opportunities for the private sector, including in small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced modular reactors (AMRs). India plans to increase its nuclear power generation capacity from the current level of 8.78 GW to 100 GW by 2047. Modi will make a week-long visit to France and Slovakia to participate in the outreach sessions of the G7 Summit in the French city of Evian and to hold bilateral meetings with the French and Slovakian leadership. He will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of several G7 states and partner countries on the margins of the summit in Evian. New Delhi and Washington are exploring the possibility of a meeting between Modi and President Donald Trump, but there was no official word on it being firmed up.Under MRFA project, 18 Rafale jets are set to be supplied by French aviation major Dassault in a fly-away condition and another 96 will be manufactured in India with 50% indigenous content....