In a first of its kind initiative, by 2024, India would have nine nuclear reactors. The new project would come up 150 kms away from Delhi, in Haryana’s Gorakhpur, making it the first nuclear establishment in North India. As of now, India has nuclear power plants in southern India like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The big announcement was made during the ongoing Winter Parliament Session (Rajya Sabha.) Mr. Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, addressed the Rajya Sabha and said, “By 2024 you will have nine nuclear reactors plus 12 new additional ones which were approved during the Covid times with a capacity of 9,000 MW. Five new sites are also being identified.” He further said, “We are going to have a nuclear project, the first of its kind, in North India just about 150 kms from Delhi in a small township called Gorakhpur in Haryana.”
Speaking about the budget of the nuclear project, the Union Government said, “As far as the cost is concerned, though it varies from plant to plant and on the age of the plant, on an average it comes to about Rs. 3 per unit and while the Kudankulam plant has about Rs. 4 per unit and Tarapur has lesser cost.” To meet the expenses of the new Nuclear reactors, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Government decided to allow the atomic energy department for joint ventures. With this decision, the National Atomic Department could now have joint ventures with private investors, something which never happened before.
Mr. Jitendra Singh highlighted the growth of India in terms of nuclear energy production and said in 2017-18 there was a generation of 38,336 mega units of power, while this year ending 2020 despite the Covid pandemic it has been 46,472 mega units. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government increased power generation by more than 4,000 mega units in nuclear plants. The minister said in spite of the global Wuhan virus pandemic, the Kudankulam plant has been progressively showing new constructions and generation. It happened because of the extra impetus given by the Prime Minister of India, to the enhancement of atomic energy generation and the setting up of new units of the reactor. Besides the 9 nuclear reactors, the Government of India also approved 12 additional nuclear establishments, permitted during COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In addition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Central Government decided to increase the annual budget for the Atomic department by Rs. 10,000 crore per year (for the next 10 years.)
The Union Government in a statement said, “The Budget proposed by DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) for Capital expenditure during 2021-22 was ₹ 17,796.24 crore and the approved BE 2021-22 for Capital Expenditure is Rs11,403.20 Crore. There is a shortfall of ₹ 6393.04 crore.”
India has 6.8 gigawatts of existing nuclear generation capacity, which accounts for roughly 2 percent of the nation’s total capacity. The additional nuclear reactors will be a major source of clean energy for expanding power demand.
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