The government on Thursday told the Rajya Sabha that India is progressing as planned on its nuclear expansion programme, with the third unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant expected to be completed by 2026 and the fourth by 2027.
Replying during Question Hour, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh said the country’s nuclear power capacity is set to nearly triple to about 22,380 megawatts by 2031-32 and rise further to 100 gigawatts by 2047. He said the nuclear programme was now in an expansion phase, made possible by policy changes that opened the sector to private participation.
Singh said India’s nuclear capacity stood at 4,780 MW when the present government took office in 2014 and has since more than doubled to about 8,780 MW. He added that enabling provisions, including recent budget measures, would help meet future targets.
Referring to Kudankulam, Singh said the project was conceived in 1988 but saw limited progress for years. Construction gathered pace after 2014, and the first two units of 1,000 MW each became operational in the last decade. He said geopolitical factors would not affect the project and that timelines for the remaining units were being strictly followed.
The minister also informed the House that the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project at Rawalbeta recently achieved its rated capacity of 700 MW on February 10.
On safety concerns, Singh stressed that nuclear plants in India operate under a “safety first, production next” principle. He urged members to avoid spreading unfounded fears and said the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited was spending corporate social responsibility funds on welfare and rehabilitation in areas surrounding nuclear facilities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House during the discussion.