The Narendra Modi government, which had set the ambitious 63,000 MW nuclear power capacity addition target by the year 2031-32, has cut it down to 22,480 MW.

The Narendra Modi government, which had set the ambitious 63,000 MW nuclear power capacity addition target by the year 2031-32, has cut it down to 22,480 MW, a Lok Sabha answer has revealed. “With the completion of the under construction and sanctioned projects, the total nuclear power installed capacity in the country will reach 22480 MW… by the year 2031,” Jitendra Singh, MoS, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said.

The DAE had set for itself an ambitious target of reaching an installed generation capacity of 63,000 MW by the year 2031-32, according to a press statement released by PIB on April 25, 2015. The DAE had then also said that the target of the tripling of the capacity of 47,80 MW by 2024 is expected to be met, largely on progressive completion of projects under construction and the projects accorded financial sanction.

In a reply to a question asked in the Lok Sabha, the MoS stated that the “progressive completion of the projects under construction, the installed nuclear power capacity will reach 13480 MW by the year 2024”, which will be a little less than 14,340 MW target.

Jitendra Singh also added that on completion of the nuclear power projects planned to be set up at the ‘In-Principle’ approved greenfield sites, a nuclear power capacity of about 31,948 MW will be added progressively. He said that Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Kovvada (Andhra Pradesh), Bhimpur (Madhya Pradesh), Chhaya Mithi Virdi (Gujarat), Haripur (West Bengal) have been given and pre-project activities in these sites are at various stages.