NEW DELHI: India is expected to have at least five indigenously designed and developed small modular reactors (SMRs) under the Nuclear Energy Mission by 2033.In a written reply in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Union minister Jitendra Singh said the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has already initiated design and development work on the 200 megawatt electrical (MWe) Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR-200), the 55 MWe Small Modular Reactor (SMR-55), and a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor of up to 5 MW meant for hydrogen generation.The minister said Rs 20,000 crore has been allocated in the 2025-26 budget for research, design, development and deployment of SMRs, which is aimed at supporting India’s objective of developing and operationalising at least five indigenously designed SMRs by 2033.He said from the current installed nuclear energy capacity of 8.78 GW, India aims at reaching 100 GW by 2047, of which public sector undertakings of the department of atomic energy (DAE) are expected to contribute about 58-60 GW. The rest is likely to be set up by public and private sector companies.While the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is setting up four reactors with a capacity of 4 GW in cooperation with the Russia, he said NPCIL plans to set up another 17.6 GW of capacity with foreign cooperation as part of its roadmap to reach about 54 GW by 2047. The National Thermal Power Corporation has also entered into a joint venture with NPCIL named Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Limited to take up nuclear power generation and associated activities, and has approved the Mahi Banswara project (four units of 700 MW). At present, there are 24 nuclear power plants in commercial operation with a total capacity of 8,780 MW, while eight nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 6,600 MW are at various stages of construction and commissioning, and 10 reactors (7,000 MW) are under pre-project activities, Singh said.
