NTPC Plans Nuclear Feasibility Studies in More States: How India Picks Sites for Nuclear Plants
NTPC, India's largest state-owned power company, will start feasibility studies (detailed checks of whether a project is possible) for nuclear power projects in more states, including Uttar Pradesh.
Studies are already complete in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Possible sites named are Banka (Bihar), Basai (Madhya Pradesh) and Nabarangpur (Odisha).
A typical project would be 1,400 MW, made of two units of 700 MW each.
Each feasibility report goes to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Its Standing Site Selection Committee studies it, and if the site is technically suitable, the proposal goes to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
NTPC wants to build about 30 GW of nuclear capacity as part of India's goal of 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047. It is talking to Westinghouse (US), Rosatom (Russia) and EDF (France) about large pressurised water reactors.
Industry estimates put the cost at about ₹15,000 to 20,000 crore per GW. The Central Electricity Authority estimates about ₹15 lakh crore is needed to grow nuclear capacity from about 8.8 GW to 100 GW.
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is the Government of India department in charge of everything nuclear in the country: power plants, nuclear research, nuclear fuel, uranium mining and nuclear medicine. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) is the top body that makes nuclear policy for the DAE. A simple way to remember it: the AEC is the "brain" that decides the policy, and the DAE is the "body" that carries it out. Both work directly under the Prime Minister.
NTPC's feasibility studies in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and now Uttar Pradesh are the first step on the DAE's approval path. Each site must clear the DAE's Standing Site Selection Committee and then the Atomic Energy Commission before any reactor is built.
India's Three-Stage Nuclear Power Programme
India's Three-Stage Nuclear Power Programme is a long-term plan, designed by Homi J. Bhabha in the 1950s, to make India self-reliant in nuclear power. India has little uranium but very large thorium reserves. So the plan uses three kinds of reactors in turn: Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) using natural uranium, then Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) using plutonium, and finally thorium-based reactors.
NTPC's planned 2 × 700 MW projects use the Stage 1 PHWR design. More Stage 1 reactors mean more plutonium for Stage 2, which is how India's long-term thorium plan moves forward.
Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) Technology vs India's PHWR
Both PWRs and PHWRs make electricity by splitting uranium atoms to produce heat, turning water into steam to spin a turbine. A PWR uses ordinary ("light") water and needs enriched uranium, where the share of fissile uranium-235 is raised to a few percent. A PHWR uses heavy water and can run on natural uranium, which India can make on its own. This is why India built its programme on PHWRs, but it is also adding large imported PWRs to grow faster.
NTPC's standard project uses two indigenous 700 MW PHWRs, but it is also talking to foreign companies about large PWRs. Knowing the difference explains why one needs only Indian natural uranium while the other depends on enriched fuel and foreign technology.
SHANTI Act, 2025: Opening India's Nuclear Power Sector
The SHANTI Act, 2025 (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) is India's new main nuclear law. It replaced the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. It allows licensed companies, including private ones, to build, own and run nuclear power plants, while sensitive steps like spent fuel reprocessing and heavy water production stay with the government.
Under the old law, NTPC could enter nuclear power only through joint ventures with NPCIL. The SHANTI Act's licensing system makes it easier for power companies like NTPC to plan their own nuclear projects in many states, which is why it is now running feasibility studies so widely.
- NTPC aims for about 30 GW of nuclear capacity, part of India's 100 GW by 2047 target
- The studies are part of NTPC's drive to add at least 2 GW of nuclear (non-fossil) capacity by 2032
- Feasibility studies completed: Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha; next: Uttar Pradesh and other states
- Possible sites: Banka (Bihar), Basai (Madhya Pradesh), Nabarangpur (Odisha)
- Typical project: 1,400 MW = 2 × 700 MW units
- Cost estimate: ₹15,000 to 20,000 crore per GW; at least three years from concept to commissioning
- Central Electricity Authority: about ₹15 lakh crore needed to grow nuclear capacity from 8.8 GW to 100 GW
- NTPC: over 91,000 MW installed capacity; meets about one-fourth of India's electricity demand
- Approval path: feasibility report → DAE Standing Site Selection Committee → Atomic Energy Commission