Private Sector Expected to Add 30 GW of Nuclear Power by 2047: What It Means for India's 100 GW Goal
The Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), who is also Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said private companies may invest about ₹7.5 lakh crore in nuclear power.
This private investment is expected to add about 30 GW (gigawatts) to India's target of 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047.
India has about 9 GW of nuclear capacity today. The public-sector Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) runs 24 reactors, and 17 more reactors (about 13 GW) are at different stages of being built.
The SHANTI Act, passed in December 2025, opened nuclear power to private companies. A couple of private players are expected to run reactors within about five years. The cost is about ₹25 crore per megawatt, and a plant takes 5 to 7 years to build.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are being studied as captive (own-use) power for energy-hungry industries like steel and cement.
The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam reached first criticality (a steady, controlled chain reaction) in April 2026, taking India into the second stage of its nuclear programme.
SHANTI Act, 2025: Opening India's Nuclear Power Sector
The SHANTI Act, 2025 (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) is now India's main law for nuclear energy. It replaced the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. Its biggest change is that private Indian companies can now build, own and run nuclear power plants under a licence. Before this law, only the government and its companies could run nuclear plants.
The ₹7.5 lakh crore private investment and the 30 GW private share are possible only because the SHANTI Act opened the sector. Private firms are now studying technology, fuel supply, land and joint ventures with NPCIL and foreign suppliers within the rules this law sets.
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. Thorium cannot be used as fuel directly, so the plan uses three kinds of reactors in a chain. Each stage produces the fuel that the next stage needs, until India can finally run reactors on thorium.
The AEC Chairman described the PFBR's criticality as India's entry into Stage 2. Private investment adds capacity mostly in Stage 1 type reactors, while the three-stage plan remains the long-term path to using India's thorium.
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)
A small modular reactor, or SMR, is a nuclear reactor that is much smaller than a normal nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calls a reactor "small" if it produces up to about 300 MWe of electricity per unit. "Modular" means most of the reactor is made in a factory as ready parts (modules), carried to the site and fitted together, like putting together a prefabricated building. Several SMRs can also be placed side by side to make a bigger plant.
The AEC Chairman said SMRs are being explored for energy-hungry industries like steel and cement, possibly as captive power. With the SHANTI Act allowing private ownership, SMRs and Bharat Small Reactors are one route through which private firms could add part of the expected 30 GW.
- Expected private investment in nuclear power: about ₹7.5 lakh crore
- Expected private contribution: about 30 GW of the 100 GW target by 2047
- Current installed nuclear capacity: about 9 GW (24 reactors run by NPCIL)
- Under implementation: 17 reactors, about 13 GW
- Estimated cost: about ₹25 crore per MW; build time: 5 to 7 years
- SHANTI Act enacted: December 2025
- PFBR, Kalpakkam (500 MWe): first criticality on 6 April 2026
- India's share of world thorium reserves: about 25%
- Inter-Governmental Agreements on civil nuclear cooperation: with 18 countries
- India's commercial nuclear power programme began in 1969 (Tarapur)