New Delhi: Making nuclear power projects eligible for climate finance will give a major fillip to India’s clean energy mission, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Department of Atomic Energy Dr Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. In a written reply, the minister said access to such funds would “be a big boost, to make progress in this mission,” stressing that nuclear energy remains a crucial component of the country’s decarbonisation strategy.
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Dr Singh said the government has already created a policy framework through the Nuclear Energy Mission, announced in the Union Budget 2024-25. The mission focuses on expanding nuclear capacity, advancing research and enabling deployment of both established and emerging reactor technologies.
A key part of this framework is the Bharat Small Reactor (BSR) programme, under which Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has invited private capital to set up 220 MW PHWR-based captive units. NPCIL will commission and operate these projects, designed to support industrial decarbonisation in sectors such as metals, petrochemicals and minerals.
According to the minister, encouraging private participation in nuclear power generation will attract long-term investment and create opportunities for fossil-fuel-based businesses to diversify into clean energy.
“Further, with inclusion of private investment, it is expected that as the plan/roadmap for rapid scale up of nuclear sector in the country is evolved at strategy level, it would send a strong policy signal to the industry (public & private) to participate and plan for capacity/ infrastructure expansion for nuclear related projects and assure them continuity of business, so that they can remain invested for long-term,” the minister told the House.
“This is also expected to boost ‘investor’ confidence to make informed decisions in the nuclear and even enable fossil sector businesses to divest into nuclear business, in terms of not only financial investment but also re-train & redeploy experienced manpower from the fossil sector,” said Dr Singh.
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The minister placed on record the list of operational nuclear power units across India, spread over Maharashtra (Tarapur), Rajasthan (Rawatbhata), Tamil Nadu (Kalpakkam and Kudankulam), Uttar Pradesh (Narora), Gujarat (Kakrapar) and Karnataka (Kaiga). The fleet includes large units such as Kudankulam’s two 1,000 MW reactors, along with newer 700 MW units at Kakrapar and Rawatbhata.