NTPC, India’s state-owned power generation giant, closed the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 with earnings above analyst expectations, posting a 12% jump compared to the same period last year. The financial results are noteworthy, but what truly matters for the energy sector is what comes next: the company has confirmed its strategy to enter nuclear power, with targets that are set to reshape India’s energy landscape.
The flagship project is the Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, a 2,800 MW facility comprising four pressurised heavy water reactors of 700 MW each. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone on 25 September 2025, marking NTPC’s formal entry into the civilian nuclear sector. The plant’s cost is estimated at around 42,000 crore rupees, approximately $5 billion. The project is being developed through the joint venture Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam (ASHVINI), in which NPCIL holds a 51% stake and NTPC the remaining 49%. The site sits on the right bank of the Mahi River, upstream of the Mahi Bajaj Sagar reservoir, in Rajasthan.
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board granted project approval in May 2025, clearing the way for the inauguration ceremony. The first unit is expected to be operational within six and a half years of construction starting, with subsequent units coming online at six-month intervals. According to NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh, the goal is to reach 30 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, partly through ASHVINI and partly independently via the subsidiary NPUNL. Singh noted that by 2036–37, India will be capable of adding around 10 GW of nuclear capacity per year as the number of active construction sites multiplies.
This ambition is set against the backdrop of a country with current installed nuclear capacity of approximately 8,880 MW, against total demand exceeding 229,000 MW. India has set an official target of 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047 — eleven times current levels. The federal budget for 2025–26 had already allocated 20,000 crore rupees for the Nuclear Energy Mission. Rajasthan, with this new plant, will see its nuclear capacity grow from around 1,080 MW to over 5,900 MW once the facility is complete, making it one of the country’s leading nuclear hubs. Beyond Mahi Banswara, similar 2,800 MW projects are being planned in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Larsen & Toubro, the major Indian engineering conglomerate that posted a 14% earnings increase in the same quarter, also signalled intensifying discussions around nuclear power — both in the conventional and advanced segments. Growing interest from large private-sector players, alongside that of state utilities, reinforces the view that nuclear is becoming a structural priority in India’s industrial planning, not merely a policy aspiration.
If NTPC manages to deliver on its stated timeline, India could build a nuclear base over the next two decades comparable to that of the world’s leading producers. The IPHWR-700 reactors — indigenous technology developed by NPCIL and BARC — are the building blocks of this expansion. The ambition goes beyond atomic energy itself: it is a bet on India’s ability to design, construct and operate a fleet of reactors at industrial scale, while minimising dependence on foreign technology.
