Industry Odisha Bureau, Aug 14: In a major move to make Odisha a hub of clean energy, discussions were begun at government-level for establishment of the first nuclear power plant in the State, officials said.
According to reports, the state government has initiated senior talks with Tata and Adani groups, who are showing very much interest to set up nuclear power plants in Odisha.
Both the companies have submitted formal proposals to the State government.
The discussion about nuclear power plants gained momentum a day after Karan Adani and his team met Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo here.
Earlier, Adani Group had announced plans to make an investment of Rs 1.50 lakh crore in the clean and green energy sector in Odisha, which includes establishment of nuclear power plants, sources said.
As per reports, Adani Group proposed to set up two nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of 6,000 MW, besides a 2,400 MW ultra-supercritical thermal power plant and additional pumped storage projects.
Similarly, Tata Group has separately proposed setting up four nuclear power units of 200 MW each in Malkangiri district, the reports said.
Setting up a nuclear plant requires a large buffer zone around the site with no residential settlements nearby, access to abundant water for cooling, and a location that is safe from earthquakes and major flooding. So, the plants may be set up in districts like Malkangiri, Sundargarh, Rayagada, Mayurbhanj, etc.
According to official data, the present installed nuclear power capacity in the country is 8,780 MW comprising 24 nuclear power plants. The share of nuclear energy in the total electricity generation in the country was 3.1% in the year 2025-26.
The Government of India has taken steps to expand nuclear power generation in the country. The present nuclear power capacity of 8.78 GW is expected to reach about 22 GW by 2031-32 on progressive completion of projects which are presently at various stages of construction/ commissioning and under pre-project activities.
Highest priority is accorded to safety in all aspects of nuclear power viz. sitting, design, construction, commissioning, and operation.
Nuclear power plants are designed adopting safety principles of redundancy, diversity and fail-safe design features following an overlapping defence-in-depth approach, in line with codes and guides of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), officials said.
There is a robust regulatory mechanism of safety reviews at multiple levels. The operations are performed adopting well laid out procedures by highly qualified, trained and licensed personnel. The safety of nuclear power plants is continuously monitored and reviewed internally and by the AERB, they said.
The roadmap for increasing nuclear power capacity comprises: A near-term target of about 22,380 MW by 2031-32, through the 13,600 MW presently under construction/planning. A long-term target of 100 GW by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission for Viksit Bharat announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, to be pursued through a combination of large-capacity reactors and indigenously developed Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
The SHANTI Act, 2025 additionally enables licensed participation of private Indian companies and joint ventures in the sector in support of this roadmap, they said.
