SMRs feature in Indian budget

Wednesday, 24 July 2024

The budget was presented to Parliament by Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, who said nuclear energy is expected to form a "very significant" part of the energy mix for Viksit Bharat, the government's strategy to make India into a completely developed nation by 2047.

The first budget since Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a third successive term in office in the general election which took place earlier this year sets out the detailed roadmap for the government's pursuit of its development goal, in line with the strategy set out in an interim budget presented in February. Energy security is one of nine priorities for achieving Viksit Bharat that was identified in the interim budget.

"Towards that pursuit, our government will partner with the private sector for (1) setting up Bharat Small Reactors, (2) research & development of Bharat Small Modular Reactor, and (3) research & development of newer technologies for nuclear energy," Sitharaman said in her budget speech. "The R&D funding announced in the interim budget will be made available for this sector."

The budget allocates a total of INR24,969 crore (USD2.983 billion) to the Department of Atomic Energy (1 crore is 10 million).

Sitharaman said the government intends to bring out a policy document on "appropriate" energy transition pathways "that balances the imperatives of employment, growth and environmental sustainability". As well as the commitment to nuclear energy, the budget includes a major project to install rooftop solar, and a policy for promoting pumped storage projects, which the government says will help to facilitate the integration of the growing share of renewable energy. A project to build a full-scale 800 MWe commercial Advanced Ultra Super Critical thermal power plant will receive fiscal support from the government, and a roadmap for transitioning 'hard to abate' industries to focus on emission targets will be formulated, she said.

India currently has 23 operable nuclear reactors providing some 7,425 MWe of generating capacity, with seven units currently under construction, including both Indian-designed and Russian-designed units as well as one fast breeder reactor. It has plans for a fleet of Indian-designed and built 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors as well as for large reactors from overseas vendors, including further Russian-designed VVER reactors in addition to those already in operation and under construction at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.

More recently, Indian attention has also been turning to small modular reactors (SMRs): In August 2023, Minister of State Jitendra Singh told the country's parliament that the government was considering options for SMRs, and looking at ways to allow the participation of the private sector and start-ups in such projects.

India's Atomic Energy Act of 1962 prohibits private control of nuclear power generation: only two government-owned enterprises - NPCIL and Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI, set up to build and operate fast reactors) - are legally allowed to own and operate nuclear power plants in India. But the possibility of involving other public sector and private corporations in the country's future expansion plans has been under consideration for some time.

Earlier this year, government sources said India was planning to invite private firms to invest some USD26 billion in its nuclear energy sector, and holding talks with several private firms to secure investments to support the construction of some 11,000 MWe of new nuclear capacity by 2040.