Union Cab approves construction of 10 units of PHWR

New Delhi : In an important decision to fast-track India’s domestic nuclear power programme and give a push to country’s nuclear industry, the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has given its approval for construction of 10 units of India’s indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR).  The total installed capacity of the plants will be 7,000 MW. The ten reactors will be part of India’s latest design of 700 MW PHWR fleet with state-of-art technology meeting the highest standards of safety.

The 10 PHWR projects will result in a significant augmentation of nuclear power generation capacity, according to a PIB release. India has current installed nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MW from 22 operational plants. Another 6,700 MWs of nuclear power is expected to come onstream by 2021-22 through projects presently under construction.
As the government marks three years of its nation and people centric governnace, in a first of its kind project for India’s nuclear power sector, the ten new units will come up in fleet mode as a fully homegrown initiative, the PIB release said. It would be one of the flagship “Make in India” projects in this sector. With likely manufacturing orders of close to 70,000 crores to the domestic industry, the project will help transform Indian nuclear industry by linking our goal of a strong nuclear power sector with our indigenous industrial capacities in high-end technologies.

This Project will bring about substantial economies of scale and maximise cost and time efficiencies by adopting fleet mode for execution. It is expected to generate more than 33,400 jobs in direct and indirect employment. With manufacturing orders to domestic industry, it will be a major step towards strengthening India’s credentials as a major nuclear manufacturing powerhouse.
The approval also marks a statement of strong belief in the capability of India’s scientific community to build our technological capacities.