Government Urges States to Explore Nuclear Plant Development, Highlights Power Utility Options

14 Nov 2024

On Tuesday, India's federal power minister urged states that are not near coal resources to explore the possibility of establishing nuclear power plants. Additionally, he emphasised the need to identify and list power utilities to attract investments to address the growing demand for electricity.

In this year's federal budget, the government of India proposed collaborating with private entities to develop small nuclear reactors, aiming to boost electricity generation from sources that do not produce carbon dioxide.

According to a government statement, the country's power minister, Manohar Lal, urged states to explore the possibility of setting up nuclear power plants at locations where coal-based thermal power plants have reached the end of their operational life.

India's strict nuclear compensation laws have stalled negotiations with foreign nuclear plant developers like General Electric and Westinghouse. The country, which currently has around 8 GW of nuclear capacity, plans to expand this to 20 GW by 2032.

The minister also urged states to identify and list their power utilities on the country's stock exchange to attract more investment in the power sector and enhance the transmission infrastructure to accommodate additional renewable capacity. India has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and aims to achieve 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.