Tata Power advances plans for small modular reactors in India

Tata Power has pushed its small modular reactor interest past the talking stage, with chief executive Praveer Sinha saying the company was preparing detailed project reports with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd for two 220 MWe reactors. He said the work could be ready in about six months, while geotechnical studies were already under way and Tata was working with the governments of three states where it has identified land for a potential project.

That matters because it turns India’s SMR conversation into something more concrete: site characterization, early engineering and state-level coordination. For a market that has spent months hearing about Bharat Small Reactors in policy terms, Tata’s public commitment is a signal that one of the country’s largest private power groups is preparing to position itself for actual project development, not just generic interest.

The company is not moving alone. Tata Power was one of six private firms that responded to NPCIL’s 2024 request for proposals for 220 MW Bharat Small Reactors for captive generation. The others reportedly included Reliance Industries Limited, Adani Power, Hindalco Industries, Jindal Steel and Power and JSW Energy. Together, those companies identified 16 prospective sites across six states, a footprint that suggests India’s private sector is starting to map where these units could fit into industrial load centers.

The policy frame has been set since Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget speech on July 23, 2024, when the government said it would partner with the private sector to develop small modular reactors. NPCIL then issued a formal RFP on December 31, 2024. The model is unusual for India: NPCIL would own and operate the reactor, while the private partner would finance the project and provide land for captive use. That structure keeps the immediate operating role with the state-owned utility, but it still leaves hard questions about how private capital, licensing and long-term fuel supply will be handled.

Those questions are why the legal and regulatory side matters as much as the engineering. A Department of Atomic Energy task force has been formed to identify amendments needed to the Atomic Energy Act, which is a reminder that this is not just an industrial procurement exercise. The statutory framework still has to catch up with the proposed business model.

Tata Power’s scale explains why its move is being watched closely. The company has about 17.5 GW of clean and green capacity, including projects under construction, plus around 8.9 GW of thermal generation and a large distribution business. If a private captive nuclear model works anywhere in India, it is likely to be with a group that already knows how to manage big loads, big sites and big regulatory friction. For now, Tata’s step is real enough to count, but it is still the kind of move that tells the market where the line is being drawn before the first unit is even licensed.