India is all set to rope in its public sector behemoths for building nuclear power plants as it aims to achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2070, Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said here on Tuesday.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the 108th Indian Science Congress here, Singh said the nuclear sector has been opened up for joint ventures with public sector undertakings to generate financial resources for building atomic power plants.
Singh is the Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office and in-charge of the Department of Atomic Energy.
The government had amended the Atomic Energy Act in 2015 to enable joint ventures between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. and public sector companies to build nuclear power projects.
"We are now building nuclear power plants in northern parts of the country as well," Singh said citing the construction of a nuclear power plant in Gorakhpur in Haryana.
In 2017, the government has approved the building of 10 nuclear power plants of 700 MW each under the fleet mode to expand the contribution of atomic power in the country's energy mix.
The NPCIL, which operates almost all nuclear power plants in the country, has formed joint ventures with National Thermal Power Corporation, Indian Oil Nuclear Energy and Nalco Power Company Limited for expansion of the nuclear power sector.
India's current installed nuclear power capacity is 6780 MW and it plans to add 21 more atomic power generating units with a total installed capacity of 15,700 MW by 2031.
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