India to have Nine Nuclear Reactors by 2024: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

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• Dec 3, 2021 | Deleted

New Delhi: India will have nine nuclear reactors by 2024, announced by Union Minister Jitendra Singh in the Rajya Sabha. He also said that a new nuclear project, the first in northern India, would be set up in Haryana’s Gorakhpur.

Jitendra Singh 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 9000 MW. Five new sites are also being identified in different parts of the country.”

Further, during the question hour, he added that what is remarkable is that unlike in the past when nuclear plants were limited to a few states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the department has now moved northwards.

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When asked about the government is thinking of phasing out nuclear power plants on account of safety, the minister stated that the government has increased the number and is also trying to make a Pan-India generation project.

Jitendra Singh claimed that nuclear energy would soon emerge as one of the most important sources of alternative or clean energy for the country’s increasing power demand.

“It’s during the tenure of the BJP led government that a bulk of approval of 10 indigenous reactors was done in single cabinet decision, which is a record in itself and has never happened in the history of Independent India.” he said.

Further, stressing the expansion of the Kudankulan nuclear plant, the minister asserted that in 2021, the government is planning to start the construction of units 5 and 6.

Notably, India has 6.8 gigawatts of nuclear generation capacity, which accounts for roughly 2 percent of the nation’s total capacity. Coal-fired generation makes up about 53 percent of India’s installed base, although its share has been declining in favour of cleaner generation and renewable power.