India Could Order More Homegrown Reactors as Nuclear Push Grows

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(Bloomberg) — India is set to order a third fleet of locally designed reactors as part of an ambitious effort to expand nuclear power capacity at a manageable cost, according to people familiar with the plan.

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The government is considering seeking bids to build as many as 10 pressurized heavy water reactors with a capacity of 700 megawatts each — a third such bulk order, the people said, asking not to be named as the discussions are still private. The bulk format is intended to improve the government’s negotiating capacity and bring down prices, they said.

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India has opened up its nuclear sector to private companies, thanks to a new law passed in December — a significant boost to its ambition to build 100 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2047, the year India aims to attain developed-nation status. It’s an ambitious goal that would mark an eleven-fold rise from current levels and could require $211 billion of investment, according to government estimates.

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Among other measures, the December change eases the liability conditions that had previously exposed equipment suppliers to potentially unlimited damage claims. It will also allow private companies to generate atomic power in the country, something that was previously the exclusive remit of the government.

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New Delhi’s nuclear push comes at a time when atomic power is seeing a global revival as nations rush to decarbonize their economies while attempting to meet growing electricity demand, including from artificial intelligence and data centers. Japan, battered by one of the world’s worst meltdowns in 2011, has just begun to restart its reactors.

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With countries such as China, South Korea, Bangladesh and France expanding installations, global nuclear power capacity could more than double to 860 gigawatts by 2050, pumping nearly $2.2 trillion into the value chain, Morgan Stanley Research wrote in a note in August, 2025.

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A sizeable part of that could come from India.

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So far, the only foreign-built reactors in India are in Kudankulam, a sleepy fishing town in the country’s south. An agreement with Russia’s Rosatom that predates the 2010 liability law enabled the construction of two 1-gigawatt VVERs, with four more expected to come up. 

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“With the main hurdles behind us, active discussions have started between suppliers and plant developers, both private and public,” Anil V. Parab, a director and chief of heavy engineering and equipment manufacturing operations at Larsen & Toubro Ltd., one of India’s top suppliers of nuclear equipment.  

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The manufacturer’s facility at Hazira in Gujarat has been operating at a fifth of its capacity for years due to limited sales, but orders are set to revive, potentially tripling production in the next two years, Parab said in an interview.

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Opening the nuclear sector to private participation “can significantly enhance efficiency and mobilize much-needed capital,” said Arunendra K. Tiwari, fellow at New Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute, warning that “strengthening public awareness and confidence in nuclear energy will be equally critical”.