Nuclear power capacity: Big boost by 2047, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the government’s decision to open up the nuclear power sector to the private sector has opened up the way for scaling up nuclear power capacity in a big way over the next two decades. 

Speaking at the ‘Republic plenary summit’ organised by Republic TV, the prime minister said that the bold decision of opening up the space sector for young entrepreneurs has led to creation of more than 250 space start-ups in the country. Modi also said geospatial mapping related data is now aiding creation of new start-ups. 

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Earlier, nuclear energy was kept under government control and now the government has in this year’s budget announced the opening up of this sector to the private sector. 

“Because of this, the way has opened up for adding 100 gigawatt of nuclear energy capacity by 2047,” Modi said.

At present, India has 8.1GW of nuclear power capacity.

Impactful governance

The prime minister also said the NDA government’s term in office has been marked by ‘impactful governance.’ Measures like drone survey of land and issuance of property cards in villages is making the rural population more credit worthy, something that will energise their entrepreneurial spirit. Lack of property ownership documents were a reason those in villages were lagging behind city dwellers in access to credit, he explained.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her budget speech on 1 February announced a ‘nuclear energy mission for viksit Bharat’ that will aid in the country’s energy transition efforts. 

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“For an active partnership with the private sector towards this goal, amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act will be taken up,” Sitharaman had said.

The budget also announced research and development programmes for small modular reactors with an outlay of ₹20,000 crore. The government has set a target for developing at least five indigenously developed small reactors by 2033.

India’s rise among nations

Modi lauded the nation's economic growth over the last decade, with regard to exports of key products and energy security. He said India is one of the top five nations among the world in the solar power sector, adding that the solar module manufacturing industry has grown 30-fold in the last decade. 

He also said India's toy exports have risen threefold in the same time and India's defence exports have become 20-fold over the past decade.

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He also listed India as the second largest steel maker in the world, the second largest cell phone manufacturer in the world, and the world's third most valuable startup ecosystem. Along with this, India's capital expenditure on infrastructure has become five times the value it had a decade ago, he said. 

The number of airports in the country has doubled, and the number of operational All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) facilities in the country has tripled in the last decade, Modi said.