Nuclear share in power generation 3.1%: Centre

“Nuclear power generation in the country has kept pace with the overall generation of electricity in the country, and thus has consistently remained at about 3 per cent. The nuclear share in the total electricity generation in the country in 2024-25 was about 3.1 per cent,” he said.

Limited availability of resources and international embargo were the main reasons cited behind the slow expansion of nuclear power capacity.

“The main reason for slow expansion of nuclear power capacity in the early days was the technology development phase that had to be gone through in an international embargo and technology denial regime, coupled with limited availability of resources. Therefore, although India operates the sixth largest nuclear reactor fleet in the world, the present installed capacity of nuclear power is 8.78 GW, excluding Rajasthan Atomic Power Station-1 of 100 MW,” Singh said.

Moreover, India's indigenous 700 MW nuclear power reactor has achieved criticality and is expected to start commercial electricity generation soon. This is the first of a new series of pressurised heavy water reactors to be built at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project in Rawatbhata.