New Delhi, Oct 14: India will require investments of around Rs 15 lakh crore to add 91 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power capacity by 2047 and achieve its target of 100 GW of nuclear energy, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the CEA’s brainstorming event on “Making Indian Power Sector AI Enabled”, Prasad said India’s installed nuclear power capacity currently stands at around 8.8 GW and is expected to increase to 22 GW by 2030-31. He said the country is targeting 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047, requiring the addition of roughly 91 GW from current levels.
According to Prasad, achieving this goal would require investments of nearly Rs 15 lakh crore and greater participation from private companies in the sector. “As we move towards Viksit Bharat by 2047 and Net Zero by 2070, we have the chance to build a power system that is not just larger, but fundamentally smarter, safer, cleaner, and more resilient,” he said.
“Let us make AI a force multiplier for the collective expertise of our engineers, system operators, utilities, regulators, academia, and industry,” Prasad noted. He described nuclear energy as a reliable source of round-the-clock electricity that can complement renewable energy and support India’s growing power requirements.
The push for nuclear energy comes as India’s electricity demand continues to rise sharply. Prasad said peak power demand is projected to increase to 459 GW by 2035-36 from 250 GW in 2024-25. He argued that while India has built substantial renewable energy capacity, the intermittent nature of renewable generation remains a challenge.
According to him, the country’s 274 GW renewable energy capacity currently contributes only about 29.2 per cent of total electricity generation, making reliable baseload sources such as nuclear power increasingly important. India’s efforts to expand nuclear power received a policy boost in December 2025 when Parliament approved legislation allowing private and foreign companies to participate in the sector. The move marked a significant departure from the country’s long-standing state-controlled nuclear power model.
IANS