Nuclear Energy Key to 24/7 Clean Power Supply, Says Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal emphasised on Monday that nuclear energy will play a pivotal role in ensuring a continuous supply of clean and reliable power, particularly for energy-intensive sectors like data centres.

During a media interaction, Goyal expressed strong support for the recently introduced nuclear energy bill, ‘The Shanti Bill’, which is currently under consideration in Parliament. He highlighted that the bill would propel India to new heights in nuclear energy development, making it an integral part of the country's renewable energy mix and helping meet the increasing power demand with a 24/7 supply.

"SHANTI Bill has been brought in, and it is currently before the Parliament, which will take India to new heights in terms of nuclear energy. It will encourage public and private players, besides public-private partnerships. It will also ensure small modular reactors are set up in large numbers in India, which will negate power cuts, raise renewable energy mix in overall power basket. Solar, wind, and nuclear combined will be able to meet power demand 24*7," Goyal said.

Goyal further emphasized that India has the potential to become a global hub for data centres, driven by the growing demand in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). He credited this to India’s robust and integrated national power grid, which has undergone significant transformation.

"We have a 500 gigawatt grid, one of the largest in the world. And a single integrated grid, which can take care of the redundancy requirement, the surge of power which data centres cause, can best be handled by a country like India because of our massive grid. So we are a preferred destination for data centers,” the minister said.

He also outlined the government's ambitious plan to significantly increase renewable energy capacity in the coming years, ensuring that the nation will have the necessary power to support its people, farmers, industries, and commercial establishments, including data centres and Global Capability Centres (GCCs).

Highlighting the major reforms in the energy sector, Goyal said the renewable energy capacity of our country has sharply expanded since 2014. While the wind energy capacity has grown by 2.5-fold, Solar power capacity has seen a magnanimous growth, with installed capacity increased by nearly 46 per cent, the minister noted.

"A combination of solar, wind, and nuclear energy will not only meet India's growing electricity demands but will also increase the share of clean energy in our overall power mix," Goyal added.

Goyal also spoke about increased reach of conventional energy sources like natural gas and expanded Petroleum refining capacity of our nation. Drawing attention to reforms in coal sector the minister noted that measures such as rationalisation of coal linkages and streamlining of coal supply chains have improved efficiency and helped to maintain power tariffs under control, benefiting consumers while reducing dependence on coal imports for our country.