NTPC to set aside Rs 16,70,000 crore for capex over next 11 years; focuses on nuclear power, renewables and battery storage, eyes 250 GW capacity by 2037

NTPC is set to make its biggest ever investment, earmarking ₹16.68 lakh crore ($175 billion) over the next 11 years, as it accelerates its transition from a coal-fired power producer to a diversified clean energy company.

The state-run utility plans to nearly triple its generation capacity to 250 GW by 2037 and build 30 GW of nuclear power by 2047. It has begun nuclear site studies in 10 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, to identify locations to build reactors.

"If we consider up to FY37, almost in the next 10 years we are going to incur around ₹16.68 lakh crore. That is the kind of size of the investment," chairman and managing director Gurdeep Singh told ET after the company announced its quarterly results.


Nuclear power will form the next leg of growth after FY32, he said. The company is simultaneously pursuing conventional pressurised heavy water reactors as well as other advanced reactor technologies.

The investment will be made in three phases. It plans to spend ₹1.08 lakh crore during FY26-27, of which ₹56,000 crore has already been deployed, followed by ₹5.97 lakh crore between FY28 and FY32, largely on renewable energy, before stepping up investments in nuclear power with another ₹9.63 lakh crore between FY33 and FY37. The company's annual capex has so far been around ₹35,000-40,000 crore.

"Renewable energy, of course, would be the key driver of NTPC's future growth," Singh said, outlining a plan to scale renewable capacity from 12 GW currently to 60 GW by FY32 and 136 GW by FY37. The expansion will be backed by a 38.9 GWh battery energy storage pipeline and an ambition to develop more than 80 GW of pumped-storage projects.

The company is also building a ₹1 lakh crore green hydrogen hub on 1,200 acres at Pudimadaka near Visakhapatnam to produce hydrogen and downstream green fuels and chemicals.

India's peak power demand touched a record 271 GW in June and the Niti Aayog projects it to nearly triple to 750 GW by 2050.

NTPC's own generation is climbing 24% year-on-year even after accounting for renewables-led backing down of coal plants. "There is no reason that we will be left behind," Singh said.

Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Ltd (Ashwini), NTPC's joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India, is already developing a 2,800 MW project at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan.