Roadmap for Self-Reliant Nuclear Energy Ecosystem

Why is in news?

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh Presents Government’s Roadmap for a Self-Reliant and Globally Competitive Nuclear Energy Ecosystem in Lok Sabha.

Clear Roadmap

• India accelerates Indigenous Nuclear Energy Push with Focus on SMRs (Small Modular Reactors), Thorium and Private Sector.
• It highlights 100 GWe Nuclear Energy Target by 2047, Indigenous SMRs and Three-Stage Nuclear Programme.
• India’s long-term nuclear energy strategy continues to be guided by the country’s three-stage nuclear power programme.
• The Government has adopted a two-pronged approach to accelerate nuclear capacity addition.

This includes

1. Deployment of large indigenous reactors such as 700 MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and advanced reactor designs at greenfield sites
2. Deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) at brownfield locations, including retiring fossil-fuel-based power plants, captive plants for energy-intensive industries and off-grid applications in remote areas

Key Objectives

• A key objective under the Nuclear Energy Mission is to develop and operationalize at least five indigenous SMRs by 2033.
• The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), a constituent unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), is undertaking the design and development of indigenous SMR technologies, including the 220 MWe Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR-200) and 55 MWe SMR-55 for power generation.
• BARC is also developing a High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (HTGCR) of up to 5 MWth capacity, which can be coupled with a suitable thermochemical cycle for hydrogen production.
• Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is in advancing the second stage of India’s nuclear power programme.
• IGCAR is pursuing multidisciplinary scientific research and advanced engineering development for Sodium Cooled Fast Breeder Reactors and associated closed fuel-cycle facilities, technologies that remain a cornerstone of India’s long-term nuclear strategy.

Recent steps

• Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025 has been enacted to enable wider participation of both public and private entities in the nuclear sector.
• The reforms under the SHANTI Act envisage greater participation of private entities in nuclear manufacturing, engineering services, research and development and supply chains, while maintaining stringent standards of nuclear safety, security and safeguards.
• The Act also provides statutory status to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, thereby reinforcing the framework for robust regulatory oversight.

Reference

PIB | Roadmap for a Self-Reliant and Globally Competitive Nuclear Energy Ecosystem