India’s nuclear regulator, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), has transferred the siting consent for the Mahi-Banswara Atomic Power Project from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to Anushakti Vidyut Nigam (ASHVINI), a joint venture company developing the 2,800 MWe project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the Mahi-Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (MBRAPP) on 25 September. The project marks the entry of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) into India’s nuclear power sector.

ASHVINI, a joint venture between NPCIL and NTPC, will now be responsible for ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements throughout the lifetime of MBRAPP units 1 to 4, AERB Chairman Dinesh Kumar Shukla said.

The MBRAPP will feature four indigenously developed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 MWe each, located along the Mahi River near Napla in Banswara district.

Under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, amended in 2015, joint ventures between NPCIL and other public sector firms are permitted to build nuclear power plants. Besides NTPC, NPCIL has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for commercial nuclear projects.

The MBRAPP units form part of a fleet of ten 700 MWe PHWRs approved in 2017, with additional plants planned at Kaiga, Gorakhpur-Haryana, and Chutka-Madhya Pradesh. The government aims to achieve 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047.

Currently, NPCIL operates 24 commercial nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of 8,780 MWe, which is expected to rise to 22,480 MWe by 2031–32.