PM Modi inaugurates Mahi Banswara nuclear project

The Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project will comprise four 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) designed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), and is part of India's fleet mode initiative to build ten identical 700 MWe reactors at various locations across India under uniform design and procurement plans, an approach the Indian government says will bring in cost efficiencies and speed deployment, while consolidating operational expertise.

The Mahi Banswara units are to be developed under Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Ltd (Ashvini), a joint venture between NPCIL and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). Formation of the 51% NPCIL:49% NTPC joint venture set up to construct, own and operate nuclear power plants in India received approval from the government last year.

Earlier this year, India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) gave its consent to NPCIL for the siting of the reactors, near the village of Napla, the first major stage in its licensing process for a nuclear facility. That consent was transferred to Ashvini earlier this month.

The other reactors that make up the ten planned units are Kaiga units 5 and 6 (in Karnataka), Gorakhpur units 3 and 4 (Haryana), and Chutka units 1 and 2 (Madhyar Pradesh). Two 700 MWe PHWR units at Kakrapar, in Gujurat, are already in commercial operation. Another, Rajasthan unit 7, was connected to the grid in March, and construction is ongoing on Rajasthan unit 8.

The foundation stone laying ceremony in Banswara saw the Prime Minister inaugurate some INR1,22,100 crore (USD18.8 billion - 1 crore is 10 million) of projects. As well as the nuclear power plant, these included INR19,210 crore of solar projects and three power transmission projects worth over INR13,180 crore, as well as substations and other infrastructure projects.

"In today's era of technology and industry, development runs on the power of electricity; electricity brings light, speed, progress, connectivity, and global access," Modi said at the ceremony. For any nation to achieve rapid development in the 21st century, it must scale up its electricity generation, he said - and the most successful countries will be those leading in clean energy. "Our government is transforming the clean energy mission into a people's movement", he added.