India will get 9% of its electricity from nuclear sources by 2047, the centenary year of India’s independence, according to the Union Minister of State for Science, Technology, Atomic Energy & Space, Jitendra Singh. He was speaking after holding a review meeting with a group of senior scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), at the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in Mumbai.
He said the increasing share of nuclear power in India's energy mix would help it move towards achieving its commitment of reaching net zero by 2070. As of 28 February, the installed nuclear power capacity was 6.78 GWe, which is 1.6% of the total installed power capacity, he noted.
He added that DAE had been given the target of achieving 20 GWe of nuclear power generation by 2030, which would make India the world’s third-largest producer of nuclear energy following the US and France. India has the sixth-highest number of operating nuclear reactors in the world and the second-highest number of reactors overall, including those under construction. Singh praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to approve construction of a fleet of 10 reactors and to allow nuclear installations to be developed under joint ventures with Public Sector Undertakings.
He noted that, for the first time, nuclear energy is also being used in India for applications in other sectors such as for increasing the shelf life of fruits and agriculture products, as well as for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
Image: Union Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh, holds a review meeting with a group of senior scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Department of Atomic Energy, in Mumbai (courtesy of PIB)
