India Has Nine Reactors Under Construction as It Chases a 12-Fold Expansion by 2047
With 8.78 GW online and $200 billion needed, India's nuclear ambitions now rest on private capital and fuel deals it has never attempted at this scale.
India has nine nuclear reactors currently under construction and is preparing to begin work on ten more, the government disclosed on Friday (2026-08-28), pressing ahead with plans to expand installed nuclear capacity from 8.78 GW to 100 GW by 2047.6
The financing gap is formidable. A panel convened by India's power ministry calculated that reaching 100 GW would require roughly 19.28 trillion rupees — approximately $200 billion at current exchange rates — in cumulative capital investment.5 India has never mobilised private capital for nuclear power at any scale.3
For decades, the sector was closed to private developers. That changed with the SHANTI Act, which opened civil nuclear investment to private companies and created the legislative foundation for a funding model the government says will be essential to meeting the 2047 target. Without it, state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited cannot carry the buildout alone.3
State utility NTPC Ltd, India's largest power company, is expected to account for roughly 30% of new capacity installations by 2047, according to the power ministry roadmap.5 Adani Group, controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, has separately announced a target of 10 GW of nuclear capacity by 2035, which would make it India's third-largest nuclear operator behind NPCIL and NTPC if achieved.2 Adani is reportedly in early talks with foreign technology partners, though no agreements have been disclosed.2
The ambition sits in sharp contrast to current output. Nuclear generation accounts for roughly 3% of India's electricity, with coal still dominating the power mix.1 In fiscal year 2024-25, India's nuclear plants produced approximately 57 TWh, a modest contribution from 25 reactors across seven sites, according to NPCIL data from late 2025.1
The Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu illustrates both the progress and the ceiling. Two 1,000 MW units already operate there; additional units are under construction; and the site's design capacity is planned at 6,000 MW, making it the country's largest single nuclear project.1
Fuel supply has emerged as one of the more concrete near-term constraints. India signed a uranium supply contract with Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom in 2026, valued at over $4 billion and backed by 92.9% shareholder approval at the Kazakh state miner.1 Geopoliticalmonitor described it as one of the largest uranium supply arrangements in Asia, covering more than 50% of Kazatomprom's total export volume under the agreement's terms. The URA uranium ETF settled at $45.57 at Friday's (2026-08-28) close, down 5.89% in that session, a sharp move in a week when India's construction pipeline received fresh government attention.1
Australia added a second supply line. A bilateral uranium deal concluded at the India-Australia annual summit, held in May (2026-05), gives India access to Australian reserves under a framework intended to strengthen long-term fuel security, according to The Hans India.4 Whether either deal can be scaled fast enough to feed a tripling of reactor numbers over the next decade is a question neither government has answered publicly.4
India's Atomic Energy Minister Jitendra Singh has said the country plans to build five small modular reactors domestically by 2033, as part of the broader Nuclear Energy Mission, which the government describes as deploying existing and emerging advanced nuclear technologies through both indigenous development and foreign cooperation.5 No construction timelines for the SMR programme have been publicly confirmed beyond the minister's statement.5
The government said on Friday (2026-08-28) that all recommended short-term and medium-term safety upgrades across existing reactors have been completed, while longer-term enhancements continue. Safety planning includes a 16-kilometre emergency planning zone around each plant site.6
The nearer-term test is the government's interim target of roughly 22 GW by the 2031-32 fiscal year, which requires more than doubling current installed capacity in under six years.5 Private developers, most without nuclear operating experience, have yet to break ground on a single unit.