PM Modi to lay foundation stone of nuclear power project at Rajasthan's Banswara

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering during the 'Samudra se Samruddhi' event at Gandhi Maidan, in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. (PMO via PTI Photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday lay the foundation stone of the Mahi-Banswara nuclear power project in Rajasthan that will mark the foray of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in the atomic energy sector.

Four indigenously developed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 MWe each are being built as part of the Mahi-Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (MBRAPP), which is being developed by Anushakti Vidyut Nigam Ltd (Ashvini), a joint venture between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and NTPC.

The project site is located along the banks of the Mahi River near Napla in Banswara district.

At present, NPCIL and Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (Bhavini) are allowed to build and operate nuclear power plants.

A 2015 amendment to the Atomic Energy Act-1962 paved the way for joint ventures between NPCIL and other public sector companies to build nuclear power plants.

Besides NTPC, NPCIL has also entered into joint ventures with Indian Oil Corporation to develop nuclear power plants on a commercial basis.

The MBRAPP units are among the ten 700 MWe PHWRs that the government plans to build under the fleet mode approach, approval for which was granted in 2017.

Besides Mahi Banswara, the fleet mode nuclear plants will come up at Kaiga NPP (two units), Gorakhpur-Haryana (two units) and Chutka-Madhya Pradesh (two units) The government has set an ambitious target of 100 GW nuclear power capacity by 2047.

Currently, NPCIL operates 24 commercial nuclear power reactors in the country with an installed capacity of 8,780 MWe with plans to increase it to 22,480 MWe by 2031-32.