India aims to ready five small nuclear reactors by 2033

India plans to build at least five small modular reactors by 2033, as it seeks to broaden the use of nuclear power and reduce reliance on coal.

Three different designs for these small reactors are being developed, Atomic Energy Minister Jitendra Singh told lawmakers on Wednesday. Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is working on reactors with 220-megawatt and 55-megawatt capacity for power generation.

The institute, named after the nation’s nuclear pioneer Homi Jehangir Bhabha, is also developing a gas-cooled reactor of less than 5-megawatt capacity to be used as a source of heat for producing hydrogen, Singh said in a written reply in the lower house of Parliament.


India has committed more than $2 billion to develop the small modular reactors, which are seen as a means to decarbonize hard-to-abate industries. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government allowed private firms to build and operate atomic power projects, as it pursues an ambitious goal of an eleven-fold expansion in nuclear installations to 100 gigawatts by 2047.

The bigger SMRs for electricity generation will be based on pressurized water reactor technology, Singh said. The government has shortlisted the port city of Visakhapatnam on India’s south-eastern coast to build the first small reactor for producing carbon-free hydrogen.

India currently has 8.8 gigawatts of nuclear power generation capacity, run entirely by state-owned Nuclear Power Corp. The company is expected to reach 54 gigawatts by 2047, while other state-run and private companies will build the remaining capacity needed to reach the national target, Singh said.