India's NTPC Finalizes Three New Nuclear Power Plant Sites: Accelerating Toward the 30 GW Nuclear Power Strategic Goal for 2047

India's largest state-owned power generation company, NTPC, has officially finalized three strategic nuclear power plant sites in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha. This move is a key initiative for the company to achieve its long-term plan of putting a cumulative 30 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power capacity into operation across 14 states nationwide by 2047, and the detailed feasibility study reports for the relevant sites have been submitted to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of India for approval.

According to preliminary plans, if the above three candidate sites receive regulatory approval, the planned installed capacity of each base will be between 2 and 4 GW. For the pressurized water reactor (PWR) projects planned for these sites, NTPC is actively engaging with international nuclear power giants to assess the feasibility of technical cooperation with Holtec International of the United States, Westinghouse, Rosatom of Russia, and Electricite de France (EDF). Earlier this year, NTPC signed separate confidentiality agreements with Rosatom and EDF to carry out preliminary technical discussions on the engineering implementation of large pressurized water reactors.

As a power giant currently possessing 89 GW of installed capacity spanning thermal power, hydropower, and renewable energy, NTPC is comprehensively advancing the diversification and upgrading of its energy mix, with plans to reach 149 GW of total installed capacity by 2032 and further climb to 244 GW by 2037. To systematically develop its civilian nuclear energy segment, the company has established a wholly owned specialized nuclear energy subsidiary, NTPC Parmanu Urja Nigam Ltd; in addition, the 4-unit 700 MW pressurized heavy water reactor project at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan is being led for development by Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Ltd, a joint venture entity formed with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

Relevant NTPC officials revealed that the depth of technology transfer and the proportion of localized equipment manufacturing will be decisive indicators in the final selection of the foreign technology route, and the company plans in the future to form a dedicated technology and design engineering joint venture with the selected international partner. In addition, the stability of long-term nuclear fuel supply is also a key consideration, and the overseas procurement and strategic reserves of nuclear fuel will be coordinated and advanced under the leadership of the central government of India.