Energy majors scurry...

IN A MEDIA call after the release of its Q4 results, Tata Power had said, "We are getting ready and (evaluating) various locations and technologies."

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The coming monsoon session of Parliament is likely to carry out the much-awaited amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, to facilitate the entry of private firms in nuclear power generation.

This comes 17 years after a civil nuclear deal was struck between India and the US that made India a virtual member of the global nuclear club.

In the Budget for FY26, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a plan to set up a Nuclear Energy Mission for research and development of SMRs with an outlay of ₹20,000 crore to be spent over the next few years. She also set a target to develop "at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047," an ambitious one given that the installed strength of nuclear power in the country is just 8.1 GW, or barely 2% of its total electricity generation capacity. The minister has since reiterated multiple times that SMR technology would be given policy thrust, as it allows reduced gestation time, lower capital investment, and enhanced safety features. These reactors can also be easily transported to sites from factories, allowing more dispersed capacity of the low-carbon energy.