NTPC Nuclear Feasibility Studies (October 18): Uttar Pradesh Is Next After Banka, Basai and Nabarangpur

NTPC is widening its search for nuclear sites. The state-run power major plans to start NTPC nuclear feasibility studies in more states, Uttar Pradesh among them, after finishing the groundwork in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, a senior official told PTI, as The Hindu BusinessLine reported on October 18. There’s no new project approval here. What we got instead is a clearer picture of how big NTPC wants its nuclear arm to be, and how slowly that kind of thing moves.

Three sites picked, more states on the list

The studies already done have thrown up three potential locations: Banka in Bihar, Basai in Madhya Pradesh and Nabarangpur in Odisha. The official was blunt about the next step. “More states will be explored as the vision is 30 GW nuclear capacity by 2047. Of course, Uttar Pradesh is on our list along with more states. We will conduct feasibility studies soon,” he was quoted as saying.

The template NTPC has in mind is a 1,400 MW project made of two 700 MW units. Do the arithmetic and a 30 GW goal works out to roughly 21 projects of that size. That’s our calculation, not a company plan, but it shows the scale of what’s being talked about.

How NTPC nuclear feasibility studies move through approval

A feasibility study is only the first gate. It goes to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), where the Standing Site Selection Committee reviews it. If the committee finds the proposal technically feasible, it passes it on to the Atomic Energy Commission for further processing. So Banka, Basai and Nabarangpur are candidates, not cleared sites.

Water matters a lot in this. The PTI report notes that continuous water supply is a key requirement, that about five litres of water is needed to produce one unit of nuclear power, and that a project needs a one-square-kilometre exclusion zone, with total land depending on its size.

The money and the timelines

Industry estimates cited in the report put the cost of 1 GW of nuclear capacity at ₹15,000-20,000 crore, with at least three years from concept to commissioning. Apply that range to 30 GW and you get somewhere between ₹4.5 lakh crore and ₹6 lakh crore. Again, that’s our rough multiplication of an industry estimate, not an NTPC number, and real costs will depend on technology and timing.

The national picture is bigger still. According to the same PTI report carried by ETEnergyWorld, the Central Electricity Authority estimates that reaching the government’s 100 GW nuclear target by 2047 needs about ₹15 lakh crore of investment, adding around 91 GW to the current 8.8 GW. NTPC’s 30 GW would be 30% of that national target.

On technology, NTPC is exploring tie-ups with Westinghouse of the US, Russia’s Rosatom and France’s EDF for large pressurised water reactor (PWR) projects in India, the official said.

Why it matters for NTPC shareholders

NTPC already has over 91,000 MW of installed capacity and meets about a quarter of India’s electricity demand, per the report. It started with thermal power and has since added gas, hydro and solar. Nuclear would be the slowest-burning addition of the lot. Long approval chains, multi-year builds and heavy upfront capital mean this won’t show up in quarterly earnings any time soon.

What we’d track from here: which new states actually get studies, whether any of the three shortlisted sites clears the DAE committee, and whether a reactor partner is named. Any of those would turn a 2047 vision into something with a cost and a date. For how power names have been trading, see our power stocks to watch from October 16 and the Nifty sector scorecard for October 5-16. When capex plans like this start hitting the books, our guide on how to analyse quarterly results helps you see where the spending shows up.

Disclaimer: This article is for information and education only and is not investment advice. Please do your own research or consult a SEBI-registered adviser before making any investment decision.