NEW DELHI, February 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL signed on Wednesday a contract with New Delhi on fuel supplies to Indian nuclear power plants, a spokesman for the Indian Nuclear Energy Department said.

The contract, which according to earlier reports is worth over $700 million, makes Russia the first country to supply nuclear fuel to India since the Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted a three-decade ban on nuclear fuel sales to the country on September 6, 2008.

"All the technical details of cooperation with our Indian partners were worked out very quickly and approval took no more than three months," TVEL Vice President Vasily Konstantinov said during the signing ceremony.

Under the deal, Russia is to supply India with 2,000 metric tons of uranium pellets.

The fuel contract is another step in burgeoning nuclear cooperation between Russia and India. On December 5, Moscow signed an agreement with Delhi to build an additional four reactors for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, where it is finishing two reactors under an earlier contract, and construct new nuclear plants in India.

TVEL is one of the world's leading manufacturers of nuclear fuel, which it supplies to 73 commercial (17% of the global market) and 30 research reactors in 13 countries.