India Eyes $26 Billion Private Investment in Nuclear Energy Development

Two government sources told Reuters that India will invite private sector companies to invest around $26 billion in the country’s nuclear energy sector, in order to increase the amount of electricity generated from sources that do not emit carbon dioxide.

New Delhi is seeking for the first time to rely on the private sector to invest in nuclear energy, which is a source that does not produce carbon emissions and contributes less than two percent of the fuel mix used in electricity production in India.

The expected funding may help achieve the country’s goal of producing 50% of electricity using non-fossil fuel by 2030, compared to about 42% currently.

The government is in talks with at least five private companies, including Reliance Industries, Tata Power, Adani Power, and Vedanta, to invest around 440 billion rupees ($5.30 billion) each, according to the sources closely involved in the negotiations last week.

The sources, who requested not to be named, explained that as the plan is still being finalized, the government hopes, through this investment, to build new nuclear power generation capacities of 11,000 megawatts by 2040.

The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) owns and operates existing nuclear power facilities in the country with a total capacity of 7,500 megawatts, and has committed investments to build facilities with a capacity of 1,300 megawatts.