Pariksha SaathiIndia targets 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047: Jitendra Singh says the nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and nuclear power will back AI and data centres
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, speaking on the sidelines of the Bloomberg Economy Forum 2026 (Department of Atomic Energy release of 20 October 2026), said India's nuclear programme is dedicated to peaceful purposes and not warfare, the vision of Dr Homi Bhabha, the architect of the programme. He said India targets 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047 and Net Zero emissions by 2070, with nuclear energy complementing other sources by supplying continuous, reliable clean electricity, including for the growing demand from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data centres. Calling AI a tool applicable across sectors, from space to the life sciences, rather than a domain in itself, he stressed its responsible, human-led use ("One has to be intelligent enough to use Artificial Intelligence"), and noted that critical and sensitive sectors have been opened to non-government players, widening the scope for private participation.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
India's nuclear power programme follows the three-stage plan conceived by Dr Homi J. Bhabha to make the most of the country's limited uranium and large thorium reserves. Stage 1 burns natural uranium in pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), whose spent fuel yields plutonium; stage 2 uses that plutonium in fast breeder reactors, which generate more fuel than they consume and are to breed uranium-233 from thorium; stage 3 is to run reactors on thorium with that uranium-233. The 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, built by BHAVINI, attained first criticality on 6 April 2026, taking India into the second stage. The Nuclear Energy Mission, outlined in the Union Budget 2025-26, aims at 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047.
Check yourself: which reactor took India into the second stage of its nuclear power programme, and what fuel does that stage burn?
The 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam (first criticality on 6 April 2026); the second stage burns plutonium recovered from the first stage's spent fuel.
Revision task: from this release, note the nuclear capacity target and its year, the Net Zero year and the forum where the minister spoke, and keep them apart from the programme's standing facts above.
Test yourself
According to Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh (PIB, 20 October 2026), how much nuclear power capacity does India target by 2047?
Show the answer
Answer: 100 GW
Dr Jitendra Singh said India targets 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047 and Net Zero emissions by 2070.
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