New Delhi: The Union government is set to commence construction of a 2,800 MWe nuclear power plant at Mahi-Banswara in Rajasthan, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to lay the foundation stone on 25 September. The plant will feature four pressurised heavy water reactors, each with 700 MWe capacity, with the first unit expected to be operational within six and a half years.

The project will be executed by a joint venture comprising the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (51 per cent) and National Thermal Power Corporation (49 per cent). This marks NTPC’s first venture into nuclear power generation under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. Sources estimate the project cost at over Rs 400 billion.

The Mahi-Banswara site is located on the right bank of the Mahi River, upstream of the Mahi-Bajaj Sagar reservoir, and received Atomic Energy Regulatory Board approval in May, enabling the formal foundation-laying ceremony.

India is targeting 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047. In addition to Mahi-Banswara, a second 2,800 MWe nuclear plant is planned in Haryana, with another under consideration in Madhya Pradesh. The Gorakhpur plant in Fatehabad district, Haryana, received AERB clearance in 2015, though construction was delayed. Under the revised schedule, the first of the four units at Mahi-Banswara is slated for commercial operation by March 2031, with the second unit following six months later.

This will be Rajasthan’s second atomic power station, following Rawatbhata, where seven reactors are operational and an eighth 700 MWe unit is nearing completion. Currently, NPCIL operates 24 reactors with a total installed capacity of 8.18 GW, and seven more reactors totalling 6.1 GW are under construction.