India witnessed 30 to 40 per cent rise in nuclear power generation over last eight years: Govt in RS

Union Minister Jitendra Singh in the Upper House of the Parliament said that the Prime Minister has also permitted Joint Ventures with Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to bolster India's nuclear power program.

New Delhi: India has recorded a 30 to 40 per cent increase in nuclear power generation over the last eight years with the annual power generation reaching 35,333 million units in 2021-22, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The statistics were shared by Union Minister Jitendra Singh in the Upper House of the Parliament.

"India's Nuclear Power capacity witnessed a quantum jump post-2014 when Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister. In the year 2013-14 if the annual nuclear power generation stood at 35,333 Million Units, while in 2021-22 it stood at 47,112 million units which is nearly a 30 to 40 per cent increase within a short span of over eight and half years," stated Singh.

Underlining the BJP government's emphasis to to boost the increase of nuclear power generation in the country, Singh, said that while there were only 22 reactors in the country before the current government came to power, the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra gave simultaneous bulk approval for as many as 11 indigenous pressurised heavy water reactors in 2017 at a total cost of Rs.1,05,000 crore and a total capacity of 7,000 Mega Watts.

Pointing out that the Space Department has been opened to the private sector, the Union Minister said that the Prime Minister has also permitted Joint Ventures with Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to bolster India's nuclear power program.

He informed the Rajya Sabha while earlier the country's nuclear installations were mostly confined to the Southern States or in Maharashtra and Gujarat, the Centre was also encouraging its expansion in other parts of the country.

The Minister said that a nuclear plant is being set up in Haryana's Gorakhpur. He also said that the world's first thorium-based nuclear plant "Bhavni" using Uranium-233 is being constructed at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. "It is going to be entirely indigenous and the first of its kind, he said. The experimental thorium plant "Kamini" already exists in Kalpakkam," he added. (with Agency inputs)