India Needs ₹15 Lakh Crore to Reach 100 GW of Nuclear Power by 2047: What the CEA Said and Why It Matters
The Chairman of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the Centre's main technical adviser on electricity, said India will need about ₹15 lakh crore of investment to add 91 gigawatt (GW) of nuclear capacity by 2047.
India's installed nuclear capacity today is about 8.8 GW. Adding 91 GW would take it to the national target of 100 GW by 2047. Nuclear capacity is expected to reach about 22 GW by 2030-31.
Of the 100 GW goal, about 46 GW is expected to come from public sector companies, private players and joint ventures together. Deep private sector participation will be needed.
Peak power demand (the highest electricity use at any one moment) is expected to rise from 250 GW in 2024-25 to 459 GW by 2035-36.
The CEA pointed out that India's 274 GW of renewable capacity gives only 29.2% of the electricity generated, because sun and wind are not available all the time. Nuclear power gives firm, round-the-clock supply.
The remarks were made at a CEA event on making the Indian power sector enabled by artificial intelligence (AI).
Central Electricity Authority (CEA): India's Power Sector Planner
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is the Central Government's top technical body for electricity. It plans how much electricity India will need in the future, sets technical and safety standards for power plants and power lines, collects power sector data and advises the government. It works under the Ministry of Power and gets its powers from the Electricity Act, 2003. It does not fix electricity prices; that job belongs to separate regulators.
The CEA, as India's power sector planner, worked out the investment (about ₹15 lakh crore) and the demand path that make the 100 GW nuclear target necessary. Its point that 274 GW of renewables gives only 29.2% of generation is the capacity-versus-generation idea in action. That is why the CEA sees nuclear power as firm supply to meet a peak demand of about 459 GW by 2035-36.
SHANTI Act, 2025: Opening India's Nuclear Power Sector
The SHANTI Act, 2025 is India's new main law for nuclear energy. SHANTI stands for Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India. It replaced the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. Its biggest change is that private companies registered in India can now build, own and operate nuclear power plants under a licence, which was not allowed before.
The CEA expects about 46 GW of the 100 GW goal to come from public companies, private players and joint ventures. This is possible only because the SHANTI Act opened nuclear power plants to private companies. Raising ₹15 lakh crore will depend on how well the new law attracts private money.
India's Three-Stage Nuclear Power Programme
India's Three-Stage Nuclear Power Programme is a long-term plan to make India self-reliant in nuclear power. India has little uranium but some of the world's largest thorium reserves. The plan uses three kinds of reactors in sequence, so that the fuel made in one stage feeds the next, and finally thorium can be used. It was drawn up by Homi J. Bhabha in the 1950s.
Growing from about 8.8 GW to 100 GW is a twelve-fold jump. It needs more PHWRs, imported large reactors, small modular reactors and progress in the later stages of Bhabha's plan. The CEA's estimate shows the scale of money and planning this path will require.
- Investment needed to add 91 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047: about ₹15 lakh crore
- Present installed nuclear capacity: about 8.8 GW; expected by 2030-31: about 22 GW; target by 2047: 100 GW
- Share of 100 GW expected from PSUs, private players and JVs together: 46 GW
- Peak power demand: 250 GW (2024-25) → expected 459 GW (2035-36)
- Renewable capacity of 274 GW gives 29.2% of electricity generation
- CEA: Section 70 (constitution) and Section 73 (functions), Electricity Act, 2003; up to 14 members
- SHANTI Act, 2025: assent 20 December 2025; replaced Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and CLNDA, 2010