India’s Nuclear Energy Mission: Targeting 100 GW by 2047

India has announced a Nuclear Energy Mission as part of the Budget FY26, aiming to scale its nuclear power capacity to 100 GW by 2047, a tenfold increase from the current 8.8 GW. An inter-ministerial committee has been formed to chart out a roadmap for this ambitious target. The committee has recommended major reforms to allow participation of private and foreign companies, along with strategies for financing, safety, fuel handling, and other critical aspects.

Shilpa Samant takes a closer look at the roadmap.

Envisaged Reactor Mix by 2047

Reactor Type	Description	Capacity by 2047 (GW)
Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR)	Indigenous	46.5
Water Reactor (PWR)	Internationally adopted, mostly imported, indigenous captive use possible	38.8
Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR)	Utilises spentfuel, help inmoving tothorium	5
Bharat Small/Modular Reactors (BSR/BSMRs)	Indigenous,captive use	10

Key Projections and Requirements by 2047

• Estimated investment: ₹20 lakh crore
• Natural uranium requirement: 8,000 tonnes/year
• Enriched uranium requirement: 1,000 tonnes/year
• Manpower requirement: 61,000 for operations
• Heavy water requirement: 6,400 tonnes by 2039

Structural Reforms Proposed

• Establish design and site support agencies for new operators
• Distancing tariff regulation from government in case of private sector participation
• Form a high-level committee for faster resolution of land acquisition issues

Managing Nuclear Fuel

Currently, India meets the uranium requirement for 2.4 GW from domestic sources, importing the rest. To achieve 100 GW by 2047, uranium supply, processing, and fabrication capacities must expand significantly.

Possible Strategies

• Develop new fuel designs such as HALEU fuel
• Promote indigenous uranium enrichment
• Strengthen international relations for fuel supply and technology
• Acquire rights for reprocessing spent fuel
• Enhance domestic mining of uranium
• Acquire foreign mines
• Expand domestic fuel fabrication
• Diversify fuel import sources

Financing Strategy for Competitive Tariff

Currently, PHWR reactors lead to a levelised tariff of over ₹6/unit. Indigenising manufacturing and equipment can reduce capital costs.

Committee Recommendations

• Provide long-term loans
• Adopt back-loaded tariff structures
• Implement credit enhancement mechanisms
• Introduce tariff-based competitive bidding
• Increase normative plant load factor
• Procure reactors in fleet mode
• Use phased manufacturing to reduce costs
• Offer interest subvention
• Relax dividend payout norms by NPCIL
• Enable tie-ups with PSUs and private sector
• Include nuclear power in climate finance taxonomy

Spent Fuel Handling

With expanding capacity, back-end fuel management becomes critical, including reprocessing, waste management, and plant decommissioning.

Panel Suggestions

• Continue reprocessing spent fuel as policy
• Develop a plant decommissioning policy
• Build a corpus fund for decommissioning
• Make waste management the responsibility of the operator

This roadmap sets India on a path to becoming a global nuclear energy leader, balancing growth, safety, and sustainability, while opening the sector for private and international participation.