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A written reply in the Rajya Sabha listed every nuclear project under construction with its location, capacity, original and revised commissioning dates and sanctioned and revised cost.
RAPP-7 at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan (700 MW) commenced commercial operation on 15 April 2026 against an original commissioning date of June 2016; its twin RAPP-8 is in an advanced stage of commissioning.
Kaiga-5 and Kaiga-6 in Karnataka have slipped from June 2026 and June 2027 to June 2031 and June 2032; the Kudankulam units 3 to 6 have moved to between June 2027 and March 2030.
Cost revisions are steep: the RAPP-7 and 8 twin unit from ₹12,320 crore to ₹22,924 crore, KKNPP-3 and 4 from ₹39,849 crore to ₹68,893 crore, and KKNPP-5 and 6 from ₹49,621 crore to ₹69,437 crore.
On progressive commissioning of the projects now under construction, a cumulative 8,000 MW will be added to the national grid.
Operates India's atomic power plants and implements atomic power projects for electricity generation; the indigenous 700 MW PHWR fleet under construction is its programme
Built the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, whose technology was developed by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research; it is a separate company from NPCIL and handles the fast breeder programme
The nuclear and radiological safety regulator — licensing, safety review and enforcement across nuclear facilities
The DAE research centre that developed India's fast breeder reactor technology, including the PFBR design
The Indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (IPHWR) line — RAPP, GHAVP and Kaiga units of 700 MW each — runs on natural uranium and uses heavy water as both moderator and coolant. Because it does not need enriched uranium, it suited a country outside the nuclear supply arrangements for decades, and it is the workhorse of the Indian programme; the Bharat Small Reactors announced in the Union Budget 2024-25 are a redeployment of the proven 220 MW PHWR design for private-sector participation rather than a new reactor concept. The Light Water Reactors at Kudankulam are 1,000 MW VVER units built with foreign cooperation and use enriched uranium with ordinary water as moderator and coolant, which is why supply delays from the Russian Federation appear in the reply's list of causes of delay. The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam is neither: it is a sodium-cooled reactor that produces more fissile material than it consumes, and it belongs to the second stage of India's three-stage nuclear programme.
Simple Analogy: PHWRs run on the fuel India has, LWRs run on fuel India must obtain from partners, and the fast breeder makes more fuel than it burns — three different answers to the same shortage of natural uranium.
The statute under which the Central Government controlled atomic energy and under whose powers the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was constituted in 1983.
Governed liability for nuclear incidents, including operator liability and supplier recourse — a provision long cited as a constraint on foreign vendor participation.
The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act replaces both the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. It permits private Indian companies, joint ventures and foreign entities to build, own and operate nuclear plants under licence, and gives the AERB statutory status with accountability to Parliament.
Against installed nuclear capacity of 8.78 GW and the 8,000 MW under construction, the Nuclear Energy Mission target of 100 GW by 2047 is the number that gives these project delays their significance.
The SHANTI Act, 2025 and the Bharat Small Reactors initiative together end the effective public-sector monopoly on plant operation, changing who can build the capacity these tables track.
PFBR's inclusion in this construction table alongside PHWRs and LWRs is the practical face of the three-stage plan — stage one and stage two under construction on the same list.
The doubling of sanctioned costs at RAPP and Kudankulam is a standard GS3 example for questions on project appraisal, escalation and public investment efficiency.
GS Paper 3 > Science and Technology: Awareness in the field of Nuclear Energy; Infrastructure: Energy
General Awareness > Static GK: Nuclear Power Plants and their States
General Awareness > Science and Current Affairs
Nuclear power plants and their locations recur almost every year in SSC and railway papers, and nuclear policy is a standing GS3 theme
The indigenous 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor design used at Rawatbhata, Gorakhpur and Kaiga.
The formal start of nuclear construction, from which completion timelines are counted — GHAVP's schedule is stated as about six years from this milestone.
The point at which a reactor begins supplying power commercially, distinct from first criticality; RAPP-7 reached it on 15 April 2026.
Building several identical reactors together with bulk ordering of long-delivery equipment, adopted to prevent supply bottlenecks.
The 220 MW PHWR design being modified for deployment with private-sector participation, announced in the Union Budget 2024-25.