Funding Agency: Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (A Government of India Enterprise)
Project Description: Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) are based on well-established, safe, and environment-friendly technologies in India that can generate power on a 24x7 basis unlike VRE sources. Based on the administrative approvals and financial sanctions accorded by the Government for future NPPs, the total installed nuclear power capacity in India is expected to rise to 22,480 MW by the middle of the next decade. Considering the total TPP capacity of 205 GW in India today and the aspirations of India’s young population there is a need to develop a national policy and strategy along with action plans to expedite the construction of NPPs in time to replace a significant part of TPP capacity. In the long term, given the imperatives of mitigating climate change, while meeting India’s developmental requirements, there is a need to realistically assess the potential for NPPs and conduct and honest and transparent comparative analysis of nuclear energy technology vis-à-vis other technologies in terms of their best possible use in the Indian context. Such an analysis must also consider the strategic role and multiplier effect of NPPs on India’s economy as a whole.