India marks twin milestones in its nuclear energy programme

04 Nov 2025 CW Team

India’s nuclear power programme achieved two major milestones in October at Kalpakkam. Engineers have begun loading fuel into the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), developed by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI), after approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. The site also marked 40 years since the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) first attained criticality.

The PFBR, expected to achieve first criticality within six months, represents the second stage of India’s three-phase nuclear programme focused on recycling spent fuel and reducing radioactive waste. It will use plutonium-based mixed oxide fuel and later transition to thorium, leveraging India’s abundant reserves. The reactor employs liquid sodium as coolant and will utilise spent fuel from Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors.

Once operational, the PFBR will become only the second reactor of its kind globally after Russia’s 800 MWe model. Meanwhile, FBTR continues to support R&D efforts and isotope production, including the recent generation of Phosphorus-32 for radiopharmaceutical applications.

Real Estate

05 Dec 2025

RBI Rate Cut Boosts Confidence Across Housing Market

Industry Context and Market DynamicsThe real estate industry has welcomed the RBI’s rate cut as a timely boost to affordability and demand. With home prices having risen steadily across major markets, even a marginal reduction in interest rates meaningfully strengthens purchasing power, especially for first-time and mid-income buyers.Ashish Jerath, President – Sales & Marketing, Smartworld Developers, observes:“The RBI’s 25-basis-point cut, bringing the repo rate down to 5.25%, is a timely boost for the real estate sector. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, enabling homeb..

BMC Resumes Rs 170 Billion Road Works, Targets 80 per cent By Jan 2026

Following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon in October, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has restarted work on 645 roads—covering 297.49 kilometres—under its large-scale concretisation programme. Data shows that more than 60 per cent of the resumed works are located in the western suburbs. Officials said the civic body aims to complete concretisation on 80 per cent of the roads where fresh work has begun by January 2026. Launched in 2022, the Rs 170 billion project seeks to concretise 700 kilometres of roads across Mumbai. All civil works were halted during the monsoon ..

India Pushes Digital Shift In Urban Land Mapping

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development has convened a National Symposium on NAKSHA – the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations – to advance India’s transition to modern, technology-driven land mapping. Speaking at the inaugural session, Secretary Manoj Joshi underscored the urgent need to move revenue departments away from outdated, tape-based methods and rough hand-drawn sketches. He stressed that adopting latitude–longitude-based digital mapping and GIS-linked registration systems is essential for economic stabi..