India’s Naveen Jindal Group is exploring multiple locations in at least nine states, including Gujarat and Odisha, to set up high-capacity nuclear projects.
The group, engaged in steel, mining, power, renewables, and real estate sectors, is expanding into the nuclear space with Jindal Nuclear Power Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jindal Renewables.
As part of its energy diversification strategy, the group plans to set up 18 GWe of nuclear plants over the next two decades as part of its planned decarbonisation roadmap. The group is also in discussions with various players to explore possibilities of entering into partnerships for nuclear power technologies as part of its INR1,800bn ($18.63bn) nuclear investment plan.
The group is exploring locations in more than nine states, mostly coastal states such as Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, as well as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The sites are being evaluated on parameters, including land availability, water resources, geological and seismic suitability, transmission connectivity, regulatory readiness and long-term project viability.
Business Today cited Naveen Ahlawat, Head of Sustainability & Decarbonisation at Jindal Steel, as saying: “We are identifying technology with international companies like EDF, Rosatom, Westinghouse and others. We are in touch with them and are evaluating all this technology thoroughly.”
He added: “We are qualifying the land in terms of getting the seismic work done and the geotechnical work done. We have already more or less cleared the initial warming activities. We have started the environmental impact assessment studies and are sort of accelerating this overall movement.”
The company is exploring a mix of capacity including 220 MWe small modular reactors, 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), Rosatom’s 1200 MWe VVERs and EDF’s 1650 MWe EPRs.
“The private players in India are entering this space for the first time. We are beginning with at least two reactors — that’s how these projects typically start — before scaling up. There is no playbook, and you have to write your own playbook and strategise yourself,” Ahlawat noted. He said Jindal Nuclear Power Private Limited is absolutely technology agnostic in nuclear, as the requirement is for bigger reactors, “and we are evaluating all the potential and possible technologies available in the world”.
