The government is exploring the potential of nuclear power, not only for electricity generation but also for hydrogen production to support industrial use.
On April 28, the parliamentary consultative committee on power met to discuss India’s roadmap for nuclear power generation. The meeting, chaired by Union Minister for Power Manohar Lal Khattar and attended by nearly 30 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from various political parties, also deliberated on the use of nuclear power to produce hydrogen for industrial purposes, sources told Moneycontrol.
Separate discussions on using nuclear power for hydrogen production from a long-term perspective have also taken place within the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Power in the past few months.
From being completely government regulated, India now intends to open nuclear power to the private sector. The nuclear power push comes even as the ongoing National Green Hydrogen Mission struggles to keep pace due to the slower-than-expected off-take agreements.
What is pink hydrogen?
While green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis powered by renewable energy, hydrogen is termed "pink" when the electrolysis process is powered by nuclear energy.
"Pink hydrogen is being considered for industrial use as part of our long-term plan for India to be net zero by 2070. It will be appealing to those industries that can invest in small modular reactors (SMRs) for captive use," said a ministry official.
SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors, typically producing up to 300 MW of electricity, designed to be built in factories and shipped to sites for installation. “This is where the scope for pink hydrogen will be tapped. In the coming decades, industries will use decentralised nuclear power through SMRs, and all hard-to-abate sectors will be able to power their hydrogen production using this carbon-free electricity,” said a senior executive from NTPC, India’s biggest power generation company.
In green hydrogen, hard-to-abate sectors such as oil PSUs have been struggling to find locations close to their refineries to set up renewable energy (RE) farms for the production of green hydrogen. Besides, renewable power faces the problem of intermittency.
In cases where RE was supposed to be sourced from states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat, the wait is getting longer due to pending transmission work.
The ministry official clarified that the National Green Hydrogen Mission would continue to remain a key focus area for the government, while the pink hydrogen drive would be initiated once industries begin to lap up nuclear power reactors such as SMRs.
Stable and cheaper electricity source
Compared to green hydrogen, the production of its pink counterpart could be more sustained as nuclear power is stable, unlike the intermittencies of renewable energy.
Also, nuclear power plants have a longer life of 40-60 years compared to 20-30 years in renewable power installations.
With just 8.8 gigawatts (GW) capacity currently, nuclear power costs in India range from Rs 3.8 per unit to Rs 5.5 per unit. In contrast, solar power with storage beyond four hours can cost Rs 10 or even more.
The Union Budget 2025 announced the National Nuclear Mission with a target of 100 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power capacity by 2047. The government intends to continue expanding the nuclear power base even after the 100 GW target is achieved.
The potential
With industries already keen on investing in SMRs for the decentralised use of nuclear energy, using it to produce hydrogen might turn out to be a cheaper and more stable alternative to green hydrogen in the long run, the executive added.
Like green hydrogen, its pink counterpart may also be traded in India’s carbon market which is expected to go live by mid-2026.
Conglomerates such as the Adani Group, Tata Group, Reliance Industries and L&T are open to investing in the nuclear energy sector. However, being private firms, they will have to wait for the government to amend the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act to begin their work.
On April 9, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Department of Atomic Energy, Jitender Singh told Moneycontrol that the amendments “are going to take time”. Read the full story here.
Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by the Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
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