India issues ₹28,000 cr EPC tender for Mahi Banswara nuclear power plant
Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Limited (ASHVINI) floated a Nuclear Island Mega EPC Package (NIMEP) tender worth more than Rs 28,000 crore for the Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (MBRAPP)
This is described as the largest Nuclear Island EPC package ever floated for India's indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) programme
The tender covers engineering, manufacturing, supply, civil construction, installation, testing, and commissioning assistance for the nuclear island systems of four planned reactor units
The Mahi Banswara plant will comprise four indigenous PHWR units of 700 MWe capacity each, located on the right bank of the Mahi river in Rajasthan, upstream of the Mahi Bajaj Sagar dam, spread over roughly 1,300 acres
The foundation stone for the project was laid in September 2025
India's Three-Stage Nuclear Power Programme
India's nuclear power strategy, conceived by Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, is structured in three stages to maximise use of India's limited uranium but abundant thorium reserves through a closed fuel cycle. Stage 1 uses natural uranium in Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) to generate power and produce plutonium as a by-product. Stage 2 uses that plutonium in Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs), which breed more fissile material than they consume, including Uranium-233 from thorium. Stage 3 will use thorium at scale via the Uranium-233 bred in Stage 2.
Key Details
- PHWRs (Stage 1) form the backbone of India's current operating nuclear fleet and are indigenously designed, using natural (unenriched) uranium as fuel and heavy water as both moderator and coolant
- India's Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, built by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), attained first criticality on April 6, 2026, marking India's formal entry into Stage 2
- India's total installed nuclear capacity stood at approximately 8.78 GW as of 2026
- Mahi Banswara's four 700 MWe PHWR units continue the Stage 1 PHWR fleet expansion that underpins the broader three-stage strategy
The EPC tender for Mahi Banswara is a direct expansion of Stage 1 PHWR capacity, the foundation on which India's later fast-breeder and thorium stages depend for their plutonium and eventual fuel supply.
Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and Public-Sector Joint Ventures in Nuclear Power
The Atomic Energy Act, 1962 vests control over nuclear power generation exclusively in the Central Government, historically restricting it to a wholly government-owned entity — the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act, 2015 modified this framework to permit joint ventures, but strictly among public-sector undertakings, while continuing to bar private and foreign equity participation in nuclear power generation itself (private/foreign investment remains limited to the supply chain).
Key Details
- Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Limited (ASHVINI) is a joint venture between NPCIL (51%) and NTPC Limited (49%), approved to enable additional public-sector capital and execution capacity for new nuclear projects
- ASHVINI, not NPCIL directly, is executing the Mahi Banswara project, reflecting the post-2015 amendment framework of PSU-only joint ventures
- The 1962 Act's restriction distinguishes India's nuclear sector from thermal or renewable power generation, where private sector participation is extensive
The Rs 28,000-crore tender is issued by ASHVINI rather than NPCIL alone, illustrating how the legal architecture created by the 2015 amendment is being used to mobilise additional public capital (via NTPC) for large-scale PHWR expansion, while keeping generation itself within government hands as mandated by the 1962 Act.
India's Nuclear Capacity Expansion Targets
India has set ambitious targets to scale up nuclear power capacity as part of its clean energy and energy security strategy, citing nuclear power's role as a reliable, low-carbon baseload source distinct from intermittent renewables like solar and wind.
Key Details
- The government's stated ambition is to significantly scale up nuclear capacity by 2047, India's centenary of independence, as part of the broader energy transition and net-zero-by-2070 commitment
- PHWR fleet expansion (such as Mahi Banswara) forms the near-term bulk of this capacity addition, alongside indigenous 700 MWe reactor designs already operational at sites like Kakrapar and Rawatbhata
- EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contracting for nuclear projects allows a single large contractor or consortium to be responsible for the "nuclear island" — the reactor building and associated primary systems — distinct from the "conventional island" covering turbines and non-nuclear infrastructure
The Mahi Banswara tender operationalises India's stated capacity-expansion ambitions, translating policy targets into an actual multi-billion-rupee construction contract for four new reactor units.
- Tender value: over Rs 28,000 crore (Nuclear Island Mega EPC Package)
- Issuing entity: Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Limited (ASHVINI) — NPCIL (51%) + NTPC Limited (49%) joint venture
- Project: Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (MBRAPP), Rajasthan
- Configuration: four PHWR units of 700 MWe each (total ~2,800 MWe)
- Site: right bank of the Mahi river, upstream of Mahi Bajaj Sagar dam, ~1,300 acres
- Foundation stone laid: September 2025
- Governing law: Atomic Energy Act, 1962, as amended by the Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act, 2015 (permits PSU-only joint ventures)
- India's installed nuclear capacity (2026): approximately 8.78 GW
- PFBR (Stage 2 fast breeder reactor) first criticality: April 6, 2026, at Kalpakkam