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In the 2025-26 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that India’s installed atomic powerfulness procreation capableness would emergence from 8,180 MW to 1,00,000 MW (100 GW) by 2047. She besides signalled transformative legislative changes, starring to the instauration and accelerated transition of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill successful December 2025.
The scope of alteration envisaged is dramatic. All atomic enactment had hitherto been the exclusive sphere of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The SHANTI Act promises a translation of India’s atomic vigor scenery by bringing successful backstage companies to build, ain and run atomic powerfulness plants, provides statutory presumption to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), and revises the liability model to promote backstage and adjacent overseas investment. The 1962 Atomic Energy Act and the 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) basal repealed and replaced by the SHANTI Act (2025).
However, to realise the committedness of 100 GW volition request putting the nuts and bolts of implementation successful place, the notification of supportive rules and regulations, consonant with the transformative tone underlying the SHANTI Act.
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Driving the reforms
Two cardinal pronouncements thrust the reform: achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047 and net-zero emissions by 2070. As nine moves up the improvement ladder, the quality of vigor depletion shifts to energy from accepted modes of vigor specified arsenic firewood, fossil fuels for transport and heating, and ember for industry. Consequently, the “net zero” people besides imposes a parallel displacement distant from fossil fuel-based powerfulness procreation towards renewables and different debased c options. In 2024, India’s per capita energy procreation was 1,418 kWh (kilo-watt-hour) compared to 7,097 kWh for China and 12,701 kWh for the United States. The OECD mean is simply a small supra 8,000 kWh. This indicates the region that India needs to question to execute the extremity of Viksit Bharat. The 2nd extremity of “net zero” imposes its ain conditionalities. In 2024, India’s per capita vigor depletion was 7,893 kWh, indicating that lone one-fifth of the vigor depletion is from electricity.
In June 2025, India’s energy generating capableness reached 476 GW (giga-watt) and astir 50% was non-fossil substance sources. Renewable sources made up 227 GW, consisting of star powerfulness 111 GW, upwind powerfulness 51 GW, and hydropower 48 GW, with an further 5GW from micro-hydel projects and bioenergy 12 GW. In addition, atomic powerfulness — which is seen arsenic debased c and not strictly renewable arsenic it consumes fissile worldly arsenic substance — was 8.8 GW. Thermal power, chiefly based connected ember accounted for 240 GW. India has committed to expanding the installed capableness of renewables to 500 GW by 2030. However, the installed capableness does not uncover the afloat picture. Renewable sources procreation depends connected the clip of day, climatic and seasonal conditions and geography. India generated a full of 1,824 TWh (tera-watt-hours) during 2024-25. Renewable sources accounted for 403 TWh (solar 144 TWh, upwind 83 TWh, hydro powerfulness 160 TWh and bioenergy 16 TWh). Nuclear powerfulness accounted for 57 TWh portion thermal powerfulness procreation was 1,363 TWh. Thermal power, therefore, accounted for 75% of the energy generated with 50% of the generating capableness compared to 50% renewables capableness providing 22%, portion atomic powerfulness contributed 3% with 1.8% of generating capacity. The crushed is that thermal and atomic sources supply for dependable baseload power. For renewables to supply astatine scale, ample investments successful vigor retention go essential. This is wherefore renewables capableness maturation is present facing headwinds with projects of 40 GW languishing without power-purchase contracts.
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India’s atomic powerfulness travel and options
Conservative estimates bespeak that India volition request to turn its energy generating capableness to implicit 2,000 GW to scope Viksit Bharat levels. Even with much businesslike and cheaper artillery storage, renewables specified arsenic star and upwind farms are astir 10 times much onshore intensive erstwhile compared to thermal powerfulness plants; since ember is inconsistent with “net zero”, atomic powerfulness remains the preferred baseload means to execute “net-zero”.
India’s archetypal atomic powerfulness reactor went operational successful 1969 successful Tarapur. Today, the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) is managing 24 atomic powerfulness plants with an installed capableness of 8,780 MW (one reactor successful Rawatbhata has been unopen down). The 2 oldest are Boiling Water Reactors (BWR), 2 astatine Kudankulam are Russian plan VVERs (pressurised h2o reactor oregon PWR) and the equilibrium are Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR). The archetypal plan was 220 MW; this has been successfully indigenised and adapted to 540 MW and 700 MW designs.
The DAE fund has averaged betwixt ₹24,000 crore and ₹26,000 crore during the past 3 years. India’s 700 MW PHWR operation outgo is $2 cardinal per MW, among the lowest globally for atomic power. To adhd 90 GW implicit the adjacent 2 decades would request an outlay of implicit $200 cardinal (₹18 lakh crore), lone feasible with backstage investment; some home and foreign.
In 2017, the authorities gave administrative and fiscal support for gathering 10 reactors of 700 MW each successful fleet mode but enactment has not begun. The logic of fleet mode was to streamline accumulation to summation economies of scale. Three different locations — Jaitapur (Maharashtra), which is planned to person six reactors of 1,650 MW each based connected a French (EDF) design, and Mithi Virdi (Gujarat) and Kovvada (Andhra Pradesh), each slated to person six reactors of 1,000 MW capableness utilizing Westinghouse-Toshiba and GE-Hitachi designs — person been nether information for implicit a decade. The apt powerfulness procreation costs from these unproven designs is apt to beryllium implicit $5 cardinal per MW.
Many industries person captive powerfulness plants, ranging from 10 MW to 200 MW; astir of these are fossil fuel-based. Current estimates for the installed capableness are 90 GW with plants of 100 MW and supra accounting for two-thirds capacity. The authorities has allocated ₹20,000 crore to probe and make 5 indigenous models of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) of 5 MW, 55 MW and 200 MW capableness by 2033. Meanwhile, the indigenised 220 MW PHWR exemplary (15 are presently operational), tin beryllium a reliable workhorse. With businesslike task management, immoderate magnitude of modularisation, and economies of scale, the clip from archetypal pour-of-concrete to going-on-stream tin beryllium reduced to 40 months. Steel, superior metals, cement, petrochemicals and insubstantial industries, and now, the information centres, person shown interest.
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Three-front atomic strategy
To execute the 100 GW people requires cautious readying crossed 3 fronts. The EdF and Westinghouse designs are comparatively caller and volition request to beryllium indigenised to bring down costs. China has demonstrated this by gathering a supporting manufacture basal and plans to physique 33 reactors of 1,000 MW each astatine beneath $2 cardinal per MW implicit 10 years. Second, the DAE should place institutions to accelerate probe and improvement for indigenous SMRs, particularly of the molten-salt reactor design. Another probe country is successful the usage of Thorium cladding with HALEU (High Assay Low Enriched Uranium) that tin supply an alternate to the Breeder Reactor way successful bid to licence aboriginal exploitation of India’s thorium reserves. Third, the indigenised 220 MW PHWR exemplary is acceptable to beryllium modularised arsenic an economically viable replacement for a fig of captive powerfulness plants; immoderate Indian backstage assemblage companies person the requisite design, fabrication and operation experience. Since atomic powerfulness procreation requires precocious upfront superior costs but debased operating costs implicit a agelong (60 years) operating life, an due financing exemplary volition request to beryllium worked out. Existing exclusion portion regulations, intended for aggregate reactors astatine 1 tract volition request to beryllium modified for captive azygous portion reactors.
Conceptually, the SHANTI Act attempts a part betwixt strategic- and defence-related atomic activities and the civilian powerfulness generation; now, the rules and regulations to beryllium issued indispensable marque this clear. Issues of atomic powerfulness tariffs, ownership of atomic fuel, discarded management, security and liability, quality colony mechanism, and an autonomous regulator volition request to beryllium dealt with successful a transparent manner. Only past volition the SHANTI Act present connected its promise.
Rakesh Sood is simply a erstwhile diplomat and presently Distinguished Fellow astatine the Council for Strategic and Defence Research
