India and Russia’s Rosatom have recently held discussions on expanding cooperation in nuclear energy, covering potential projects for large and small nuclear power plants, collaborating across the nuclear fuel cycle and opportunities for localising equipment production in India. The talks also included the possibility of deploying Russian-designed Small Modular Reactors (SMR) in the country, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has informed the Parliament.
The DAE has also outlined progress under the Nuclear Energy Mission announced in the Union Budget 2025–26. The Mission provides ₹20,000 crore for developing and deploying five indigenous SMRs by 2033.
BARC has begun work on three reactor types: the 200 MWe Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR-200), the 55 MWe SMR-55 and a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor of up to 5 MWth for hydrogen generation. The first demonstration units for these technologies are proposed at a DAE site and are expected to require 60–72 months for construction after project sanction.
For industrial captive use, NPCIL issued a Request for Proposal for Bharat Small Reactors (BSR) on 31 December 2024. Queries raised during a pre-proposal meeting in February 2025 have been addressed and posted on the NPCIL website. Based on requests from interested companies, the RFP submission deadline has been extended to 31 March 2026.
Meanwhile, the draft Atomic Energy Bill 2025 is in an advanced stage of inter-ministerial processing, with comments from Ministries being incorporated and the Ministry of Law and Justice carrying out legal vetting. Government policy directives are being added ahead of the approval process.
