Budget 2025: INR 20K Cr Nuclear Energy Mission To Be Set Up

SUMMARY

The mission will foster research and development of at least five indigenously developed small modular reactors by 2033

Sitharaman added that the development of at least 100GW of nuclear energy by 2047 was essential for India’s energy needs

This is FM Nirmala Sitharaman eighth consecutive budget

In her Budget 2025 speech on Saturday (February 1), finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed the establishment of a Nuclear Energy Mission with an outlay of INR 20,000 Cr.

The mission will foster research and development (R&D) of at least five indigenously-developed small modular reactors by 2033. FM Sitharaman also said that development of at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047 is essential for India’s energy needs.

“Development of at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047 is essential for our energy transition efforts. For an active partnership with the private sector towards this goal, amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act will be taken up,” said Sitharaman.

For the uninitiated, small modular reactors are capable of generating up to 300 MWe (megawatt electrical) of electricity per unit, about one-third of the output of traditional nuclear power plants. SMRs are smaller, safer, and more modular compared to conventional reactors.

SMRs are designed to be manufactured in factories and shipped to operational sites, thereby enabling quicker installation and lower construction costs versus larger reactors. Additionally, small modular reactors are scalable and additional units can be easily added to address energy demands.

It is pertinent to note that FM Sitharaman, in her full Budget 2024-25 speech in July last year, had proposed plans to develop a 220 MW Bharat Small Reactor (BSR) in partnership with private conglomerates.

Subsequently in August 2024, Tata Consulting Engineers’ CEO Amit Sharma reportedly said that the company was collaborating with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on the BSR project. The two parties plan to deploy 40 to 50 of these new reactors over the coming decade.

Afterwards, in January 2025, nuclear power operator NPIL issued a request for proposals (RFPs) from ‘visionary Indian industries’ to finance and build a proposed fleet of 220 MW Bharat Small Reactors to help decarbonise India.

That said, there are very few entities in the Indian startup ecosystem building offerings in the nuclear energy space. However, there are players like HYLENR, which claims to have developed the world’s first cold fusion technology to generate clean energy and built a patented low energy nuclear reactor (LENR) device.

The announcement of the nuclear energy mission was made by FM Sitharaman while presenting her eighth consecutive budget. The FM also proposed a new INR 10,000 Cr fund of funds (FoFs) for startups, and INR 1 Lakh Cr fund to transform Indian cities into growth hubs, a comprehensive social security scheme for gig workers, among others.