Adani Group Joins India's Nuclear Power Race, Eyes Massive 10 GW Project by 2035
New Delhi: The Adani Group has once again displayed its ambitions to enter India's nuclear power sector, saying it intends to build as much as 10 gigawatts of capacity by 2035 – possibly making it the country's biggest private-sector operator.
"Our entry into nuclear energy through Adani Atomic Energy is another confident step towards securing India's long-term energy future," Gautam Adani, the conglomerate's chairman, said at the group's annual general meeting.
The Gautam Adani-led conglomerate had in February already announced through regulatory filing that it was entering the nuclear power sector. Reports suggest that the Adani group has now also identified land for the projects, although it did not disclose details.
According to a Forbes report, last year, the Adani group was reportedly in talks with the state of Uttar Pradesh to build a commercial nuclear power plant. If the project moves forward, Adani would become the first major private company to operate in the sector.
Per Reuters, Adani said the conglomerate's data centre business is on track to build 3 GW of capacity by 2030 and that the group is also ramping up its piped natural gas projects to meet India's rising demand for gas.
As part of its 2047 ‘Viksit Bharat’ mission, and a move towards clean energy, India last year opened its nuclear generation sector to private firms, with an aim to expand India's nuclear capacity to 100 gigawatts from the current 8 gigawatts, approximately.
Passed by both the houses of the Parliament in December last year, the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act replaced the earlier Atomic Energy Act. It enables private companies to operate nuclear power plants in India and also allows them to form joint ventures with foreign companies for technology collaboration.
At present, only Nuclear Power Corp of India, a state-run firm, has the permission to operate nuclear plants. Per the Reuters report, while NPCI aims to expand to 50 GW capacity, the country's top coal plant operator NTPC, also state-run, is also planning to open a tab for 30 GW of nuclear capacity.
In the private sector, apart from Adani, Tata Power and Reliance Industries are also looking at investing in the nuclear sector.
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