Indian giants eye NPCIL tie-up to drive nuclear energy growth

The Indian government's ambitious bid to hire Bharat Small Reactors (BSRs) to de-pollute high-emitting industries has generated keen interest among the nation's top private sector players, with investment likely to cross Rs 35,000 crore, government officials informed Moneycontrol.

Firms such as Reliance Industries, Adani Group, Tata Group, Hindalco (part of the Aditya Birla Group), Vedanta, and JSW Group have withdrawn their tenders, which were being held by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). The bid submission deadline was also extended to September 30 from the initial June 30 to give stakeholders more time to review project information.

Each project will be assigned on a twin-unit configuration, with two 220 MW compact pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) in each. One twin unit will be Rs 6,000–7,000 crore. NPCIL aims to construct 12 to 14 reactors (six to seven twin units) with potential private investment of Rs 35,000–50,000 crore.

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The private sector shortlisted entities will bear the whole lifecycle cost — from initial capital investment to decommissioning — and, in return, receive long-term electricity access from the BSRs for captive usage by industry. NPCIL will maintain operational control of the reactors.

The scheme is part of India's overall plan to increase nuclear capacity to 8.7 GW to 22.48 GW in 2031-32 with a vision of 100 GW by 2047. This is consistent with the National Nuclear Energy Mission, as commitments in the Union Budget, with a Rs 20,000 crore budget to speed up the induction of small modular reactors for hard-to-abate industries such as steel and aluminium to facilitate India's 2070 net-zero commitment.