Forest panel to consider nod to new nuclear plant in Rajasthan

Time of India

25-05-2025

As India revs up on nuclear power and mulls easing of regulatory rulebooks, paths and clearances are being expedited for several ambitious projects, the latest being the 2800 MWe
Mahi-Banswara Nuclear Power Plant
(NPP) in Rajasthan.
Accorded the critical 'siting consent' by the
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
(AERB) on May 9-approval of the site's suitability to house an NPP -- the ambitious project is coming up for forest clearance this week at the Union environment ministry.
The project has been planned for over a decade with notification for the acquisition of land for the NPP issued on September 3, 2012 in the Rajasthan Government Gazette. Things, however, are now picking up pace. The clock, in fact, is ticking for the project envisaged to be commissioned by May 2030. It is gathered that
NPCIL
has moved the
Forest Advisory Committee
(FAC) seeking permission for significant land use changes for the plant. While earlier it was to use 27 hectares of the total 100-hectare forest land for critical power plant related infrastructure such as the Operating Island and pipeline corridors and leave the rest as green cover, new assessments require it to utilise over 45 hectares of forest land for vital infrastructure.
Accordingly, FAC's approval has been sought to approve the land re-diversion. ET gathers it will come up for consideration at the May 26 FAC meeting, barely six months after the proposal was moved. The 2,800 MWe NPP will consist of four units of
Indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors
(PHWRs) of 700 MWe capacity each, abbreviated as MBRAPP -1 to 4. They are to come up over 660 hectares of land upstream of the Mahi-Bajajsagar reservoir. Forest land apart, it includes private and government land-land acquisition across some rural segments has been challenging. The proposed 700 MWe PHWR reactors are indigenous and are similar to the ones currently under construction in Gujarat (KAPP-3 & 4) and in Rajasthan (RAPP-7 & 8). The estimated tariff from the project is expected to be comparable and competitive with the contemporary thermal stations in the northern region.
The project is significant as it will be one of the first to be executed through ASHVINI -- a Joint venture company between PSUs-NTPC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) -- incorporated for setting up and scaling up nuclear power projects in the country through pooling of resources and expertise.
This was enabled through an amendment in the definition of the Government Company under Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act, 2015. Earlier, NPCIL was the sole executor of all NPPs in India. In September 2024, the MBRAPP 4X700 MW was transferred from NPCIL to ASHVINI.
MBRAPP is also significant as it is part of the 'fleet mode reactor program', a key national mission to set up a series of indigenous nuclear power plants within 4-5 years to meet growing energy needs through 'cleaner' fuel as compared to thermal projects, in view of India's climate action commitments at global fora.