India towards zero carbon emissions; Government's bold step towards expanding nuclear energy
To achieve the target of zero carbon emissions, India has released a huge budget of 20 thousand crores for nuclear energy in the General Budget 2025. PM Modi has repeatedly pledged to make India a hub of green energy in climate energy change conferences. The Prime Minister's ambition is also to make India nuclear energy rich. In this direction, the Modi government has taken its first step in the 2025 budget. This budget will be used to build new nuclear power stations in the country and increase the capacity of old power stations.
In the Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Reforms in the power sector... We will encourage power distribution reforms and increase inter-state transmission capacity by the states. This will improve the financial health and capacity of power companies. States dependent on these reforms will be allowed to borrow an additional 0.5 percent of GSDP."
She also said that the development of at least 100 gigawatts by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission is essential for our energy transformation efforts.
The government has given a budget of 20 thousand crores for nuclear power plants. It has been announced to build 5 new nuclear power plants in the country. India is continuously expanding its nuclear installations.
India is setting up the world's first thorium-based nuclear reactor, "Bhawani", at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu using uranium-233. The plant will be completely indigenous and will be the first of its kind. An experimental thorium reactor "Kamini" already exists at Kalpakkam.
At present, nuclear energy is the 5th largest source of electricity for India. There are a total of 7 power plants across the country. There are more than 22 nuclear reactors which produce 6780 MW of nuclear energy. Apart from this, Kakrapar Nuclear Power Project (KAPP-3) was also been connected to the grid in January 2021. The number of pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) is 18 and there are 4 light water reactors (LWRs). The government has also allowed joint ventures with public sector undertakings to expand India's nuclear program. As a result, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is now working on two joint ventures with National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).
