India has set a firm timeline to deploy five indigenous small modular reactors (SMRs) by 2033. Union Minister Jitendra Singh detailed this plan in a written submission to the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament). The initiative aligns with India’s wider Nuclear Energy Mission, which aims to reach a 100 GWe nuclear capacity by 2047 to help achieve net-zero targets by 2070.
The government has earmarked an investment budget of INR 200bn ($2bn) to support the Nuclear Energy Mission for SMR research and development. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is spearheading three primary reactor configurations:
- The Bharat small modular reactor (BSMR-200): A 220 MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) intended for captive power generation in heavy industries such as metal, steel, and cement. It will be built in Tarapur, Maharashtra.
- SMR-55: A 55 MWe compact PWR variant based on a modular block design. It will also be situated at the Tarapur site.
- HTGCR: A high-temperature gas-cooled reactor scaling up to 5 MWth. It will act as a nuclear heat source to generate green hydrogen using a copper-chlorine thermochemical cycle. It is being designed and developed by BARC. The designated site is Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Singh said the reactors will power energy-intensive heavy manufacturing. They will supply stable baseload electricity to isolated and remote geographic pockets. SMRs will eventually replace infrastructure at retiring coal-fired thermal plants. The recent implementation of the 2025 SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) Act allows private sector investment, construction, and operation of atomic power projects for the first time.
