Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have signed an agreement on bilateral cooperation in the development of nuclear energy, according to a joint statement released after a meeting in Paris.

This agreement "constitutes the basis of an increased bilateral cooperation in the domain of energy and research," the statement said.

Although no details were provided, French media reported last week that such an agreement could eventually lead to contracts worth some 20 billion euros to French firms for the construction of nuclear power stations in India.

The deal was made possible by the lifting of a 34-year embargo on the sale of nuclear materials to India because it had not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Earlier this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency and an organization of 45 countries known as the Nuclear Suppliers Group both granted India a waiver to purchase nuclear material on the international market.

India wants to increase its nuclear energy capacity by 60,000 megawatts within 15 years, which would require some 100 billion euros of investments. The French nuclear energy group Areva is one of several companies looking to profit from that market.

On Saturday, the US House of Representatives approved an agreement allowing the United States to sell civilian nuclear material and technology to India.