India, the world's third-largest polluter and a major consumer of coal, is embarking on an all-out race to decarbonize its energy mix and meet its climate obligations. At COP26 in Glasgow, in 2021, New Delhi pledged to achieve power generation of 500 gigawatts (GW) from non-fossil fuels by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2070.

In parallel with the development of renewables, Narendra Modi's government has decided in recent weeks to set its sights on nuclear power. On February 1, during the 2025 budget, he announced the launch of a nuclear mission, with the aim of producing 100 GW of energy by 2047. The atom is set to become a mainstay of the country's energy mix.

It's a difficult and risky gamble, with local communities unfavorable to the deployment of such projects. Although India was the second Asian country to build a nuclear power plant in 1969, at Tarapur, just after Japan and well ahead of China, it has been largely relegated to the sidelines, having been banned from civil nuclear cooperation following its military tests in 1974 and 1998.

Atomic power accounts for just 3% of the country's total electricity production, with installed nuclear capacity of 8,180 megawatts (MW, or 8.18 GW) as of January 30, entrusted to a single operator, the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India. "The history of atomic energy in India is tragic," said Raja Mohan, an Indian analyst. He pointed out that "China has an installed nuclear capacity of around 58,000 MW, and South Korea 32,000 MW." India's capacity is expected to reach 22,480 MW by 2032, following the commissioning of new reactors currently under construction.

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