Editorial: India’s nuclear power growth stalled
For nuclear energy to form a significant part of the energy mix, investments in developing critical technologies is must
Nuclear power, considered a clean, carbon-free source of energy, is crucial for India to achieve its target of ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2070. However, it is ironic that the country has not added a single megawatt of nuclear power to the grid for nearly a decade now. The promise of massive additions to the installed capacity continues to elude the Department of Atomic Energy since the 1980s when it first set the target of 20,000 MW by 2000. At present, the share of nuclear energy is less than 3% in the country’s energy mix. The total installed power capacity stands at 4,94,000 MW, of which nuclear power contributes a mere 6,800 MW, while renewable sources of energy account for 125,000 MW. The rest comes from hydro and thermal power. The production of nuclear power has remained stagnant since 2016. India currently operates 22 nuclear power reactors and another 11 nuclear power plants are under construction, aiming to add 8,700 MW of capacity. Nuclear energy is a smart option for a country like India where millions of people still don’t have access to power and the domestic energy consumption demand has more than doubled since 2000. In her 2024-25 union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about how nuclear energy was expected to form a very significant part of the energy mix for Viksit Bharat but did not elaborate on the strategies to achieve it. For this to become a reality, India needs to increase investments in Research & Development and in developing critical technologies for nuclear energy.
The NDA government has been quite stingy when it comes to spending on R&D. In 2019, Sitharaman had announced a new funding mechanism for R&D — the National Research Fund (NRF ) — but it has not taken off so far. Even in the recent Budget, she promised that the NRF would be operationalised but did not give any timeframe. Though the Finance Minister, in her previous Budget speeches, spoke about funding to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore over five years for NRF, nothing has materialised. There is a need for a firm commitment from the government to R&D in general and critical areas like energy in particular. There are multiple challenges in the nuclear energy sector. Foremost among them is the continued public distrust and opposition to building new nuclear power plants due to safety concerns. This has made it challenging for the government to build new nuclear power stations and expand the existing ones. India has a complex regulatory framework that can be challenging to navigate for foreign investors. Besides, financing new nuclear power plants can be challenging since they are capital-intensive projects that require significant investment. Currently, nuclear power stations in India can only be run by public sector undertakings. Allowing private players to enter the sector can bring in both technology and capital.
