India has ambitious plans to install nuclear reactors across the country, especially in states where thermal power plants have either completed their life, or where access to coal is a challenge.
With its focus on clean energy, India aims to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and for this the central government has now asked states to set up nuclear power plants.
India’s Energy Minister Manohar Lal on Tuesday chaired a conference of power ministers of states and union territories, where he asked states that are far from coal resources to set up nuclear-based power plants. This step has also been taken keeping in mind the rapidly increasing demand for electricity in the country.
In the Union Budget, the central government had proposed to partner with private investors to set up small-scale nuclear reactors to meet its growing energy demands.
According to a statement issued by the Centre, the Union Minister told state governments, “States should consider setting up nuclear power plants at locations where coal-based thermal power plants have completed their life.”
The minister also asked states to identify power utilities to meet their investment targets in the power sector and list them on stock exchanges. Asking states to increase their renewable energy capacity, the minister stressed the need to improve the transmission system to achieve this.
Many foreign power plant manufacturers have stayed away from building nuclear and nuclear plants in India due to stringent laws on compensation in case of any accident, accident or leakage, as well as very strict rules and regulations imposed by New Delhi.
There are currently 24 nuclear power plants in operation in India. All of these are operated and maintained by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited or NPCIL, which comes under the Department of Atomic Energy. NPCIL is a government-owned public sector undertaking or PSU, headquartered in Mumbai.
The current power generation from nuclear plants in India is about 8 GW. New Delhi has ambitious plans to increase this to more than 20 gigawatts by 2032.
Being the only G20 nation to achieve its climate targets before the deadline, India aims to add 500 gigawatts of renewable energy to its grid by 2030. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also promised to make India a net-zero carbon emission country by 2070. ,
