NUCLEAR WOES

INDIAN COMPANIES, INCLUDING RELIANCE INDUSTRIES, ADANI GROUP, TATA POWER, JSW ENERGY, AND ADITYA BIRLA RENEWABLES, ARE KEEN TO BUILD NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS, BUT HIGH O&M COST AND AN EXPERTISE FEE COULD MAKE THEIR INVESTMENTS UNVIABLE. WILL THE GOVERNMENT MEET THEM HALFWAY?

- RICHA SHARMA

IN 2005, INDIA and the US announced a decision to go ahead with the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative. That the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, decided to risk his government's survival to get the deal passed in Parliament showed the importance he attached to the development of nuclear power for India's energy security.

Have those hopes materialised? Not really. Twenty years later, nuclear accounts for around 8.8 GW of India's 476 GW power capacity. The country added just 2.9 GW nuclear capacity between 2015 and 2024. China, in contrast, added 32.8 GW.

With the goal of reaching 100 GW nuclear power capacity by 2047, India's 100th year of Independence, nowhere in sight, Union Budget 2025-26 came up with a radical solution—allow private players to build nuclear power plants, ending the age-old monopoly of government-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). It announced a Nuclear Energy Mission, focused on research and development of small modular reactors, and allocated ₹20,000 crore for the initiative to develop at least five indigenously designed and operated small modular reactors by 2033. It also announced the development of Bharat Small Reactors (BSRs).

But the initial euphoria over the move—top industrial groups such as Adani, Reliance, Tata, Aditya Birla and JSW showed interest—has mellowed. The reason? The conditions imposed by NPCIL on private players in its request for proposal for 220 Mw pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) Bharat Small Reactors (BSRs). The companies have flagged the high operation and maintenance cost cited by NPCIL for setting up BSRs, levy of an exorbitant expertise fee at 60 paise/KWH of nuclear power generated, which translates into ₹150 crore per project, lack of financing guarantee with assets remaining under NPCIL’s control, and challenges of land availability. They have also sought single window clearances and freedom to decide tariffs.