India eyes tripling installed nuclear capacity by 2031-2032

Twenty-one reactors are at various stages of implementation.

To boost efforts towards achieving net zero by 2070, India aims to triple its installed nuclear capacity from 8,180 megawatts (MW) to 22,480 MW by 2031-2032, the country's Department of Atomic Energy said.

“Various studies have projected the need to have a national nuclear capacity of the order of 1 lakh MW by 2047, recommendations of those studies are being viewed for possible future adoption,” Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha.

India currently has 8,180 MW of nuclear capacity spread across 24 nuclear power reactors, Singh said. Twenty-one reactors with a total capacity of 15,300 MW are at various stages of implementation by Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited (NPCIL); nine reactors with a total capacity of 7,300 MW by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidhyut Nigam Limited are under construction, and 12 reactors with a capacity of 8,000 MW are under pre-project activities, he noted.

In the last 10 years, the union minister said there has been more than a 70% surge in India’s nuclear power capacity, increasing to currently 8,180 MW from 4,780 MW in 2013-2014. The annual electricity generation from nuclear power plants has also increased to 47,971 million units in 2023-2024 from 34,228 million units in 2013-2014, he added.