India moves closer to opening nuclear power sector to foreign investment as ASEAN Economic Community approves FDI policy: Official

New Delhi: India is close to opening up its nuclear power sector to foreign investment as the Atomic Energy Commission of India approved a new foreign direct investment (FDI) framework, an official said.At a recent seminar in Delhi, Seema S Jain, member (finance), Department of Atomic Energy, said the policy is part of a wider effort to mobilize large-scale financing to boost nuclear energy capabilities. “The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has approved the foreign direct investment policy and will conduct ministerial-level consultations,” she said. She also pointed to the advantages of a “fleet model” approach, where multiple reactors are developed at a single site to speed up approval and construction timelines.India has set a target of increasing nuclear power capacity to 100 GW by 2047, which will require significant investment. Despite the policy progress, NTPC has seen lower than expected interest from the private sector, pointing to challenges in bringing in external capital. The proposed FDI policy, backed by the recently enacted Santhi Bill 2025, aims to ensure investment of up to Rs 2,000 crore to foreign investors to accelerate the construction of nuclear reactors.The bill was enacted and notified as a single, coherent piece of legislation on December 21 last year, which sets out provisions for private sector participation in research and innovation for peaceful uses of nuclear energy subject to licenses and safety authorizations.India’s Ministry of Atomic Energy recently stated in a statement that the main reason for the slow expansion of India’s early nuclear power capacity was that the technology development stage had to go through international embargoes and technology rejection systems, coupled with limited resources.