India to get 7,000 MW from nuclear power by 2031 as govt grants bulk approval to reactors

A nuclear power plant.

The government has given approvals to install 10 nuclear reactors to meet the country's growing power demand, Union Minister of State (independent charge) Earth Sciences, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh told the Parliament on April 5.

These reactors will be set up in ‘fleet mode’ progressively by the year 2031 at a cost of Rs. 1,05,000 crores. A total of 7,000 megawatts (MW) or 7 gigawatts (GW)  is expected from these reactors. The 10 reactors will be installed at four locations - two each at Kaiga (Karnataka), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Chutka (Madhya Pradesh), while four will be at Mahi Banswara (Rajasthan).

Moneycontrol was the first to report on February 13 about the government's plan to set up nuclear reactors at Chutka and Mahi Banswara. These nuclear projects will be implemented through ASHVINI - a joint venture between NTPC Ltd and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). The approximate cost of the Chutka plant will be Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore for the Mahi Banswara plant.

As per the Central Electricity Authority data, till March 2022, India had an installed nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MW, which is just 2 percent of the total energy (thermal, hydro, renewables) mix in the country.

For India, looking at nuclear energy to meet its electricity demand is vital as the country has set a target of having an installed renewable energy capacity target of 500 GW by 2030 and net zero by 2070. India's electricity demand is also growing at a pace of about 8-10 percent, which is one of the highest among countries globally.

Nuclear is a zero-emission clean energy source. It generates power through fission, which is the process of splitting uranium atoms to produce energy. The heat released by fission is used to create steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity without the harmful by-products emitted by fossil fuels.

Globally, the fusion method is not yet utilised to generate electricity because scientifically, it is difficult to sustain a fusion reaction. However, there are a few downsides to nuclear power which the government needs to simultaneously look into, including ineffective disposal and storage of nuclear waste as uranium decomposes into harmful sub-atomic masses.

NTPC has a total installed power generation capacity of 71,544 MW (including 12,615 MW through joint ventures/subsidiaries. But it does not have a nuclear power plant as of now. As per NTPC's initial plan, the power major will start generating 2,000 MW of nuclear energy by 2032, 4,200 MW by 2035 and eventually scale up to 20,000 MW by 2050