India needs ₹15 lakh crore investment to add 91 GW nuclear capacity by 2047: CEA chief

India will require an investment of around ₹15 lakh crore to add 91 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power capacity by 2047 and achieve its target of 100 GW, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad said on Wednesday. He also said the need for deeper private sector participation to meet the ambitious target.

Speaking at a CEA brainstorming event on ‘Making Indian Power Sector AI Enabled’, Prasad said India’s installed nuclear power capacity currently stands at around 8.8 GW. The country is expected to increase this to 22 GW by 2030-31, he added. Of the targeted 100 GW nuclear capacity, 46 GW is expected to come from public sector undertakings (PSUs), private players and joint ventures (JVs), Prasad said.

Nuclear power to support rising electricity demand

The expansion of nuclear power capacity will be critical to meeting India’s growing electricity requirements, with peak power demand projected to rise to 459 GW by 2035-36 from 250 GW in 2024-25.

Prasad highlighted the role of nuclear energy as a stable source of electricity, particularly as India expands its renewable energy capacity. He noted that the country’s 274 GW of renewable energy capacity accounts for only 29.2% of electricity generation, underlining the importance of firm, round-the-clock power supply.

Grid stability remains a challenge as renewables expand

Separately, Prasad said on Tuesday that grid stability concerns arising from the growing share of renewable energy (RE) in India’s energy mix can be addressed through appropriate inverter technologies and timely adoption of solutions.

Addressing the 20th India Energy Summit organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), he said India cannot rely on one or two energy sources to meet its rising electricity needs. The country requires a balanced mix of conventional generation, renewables and complementary resources such as energy storage.

While dependable baseload generation remains important, renewable energy capacity must continue to expand, he said. However, the growing share of renewables is also creating grid-management challenges, including concerns around system inertia, short-circuit strength and stability in renewable-rich regions.

“Addressing these issues will require appropriate inverter technologies, harmonic filters, reactive power compensation and synchronous condensers, supported by timely technology adoption and system-level planning,” Prasad said, according to an ICC statement.

NTPC chief calls for a balanced energy mix

NTPC Chairman Gurdeep Singh said energy security has become a central consideration for the power sector, with economic growth, weather variability and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and data centres reshaping electricity demand.

With coal continuing to play a significant role in India’s electricity generation, Singh emphasised the need to maintain a balanced energy mix that combines dependable conventional power generation with the continued expansion of non-fossil fuel capacity. The CEA also advises the Centre on matters related to national electricity policy and power sector planning.