CHENNAI: India’s largest power producer, NTPC, has signed non-disclosure agreements with Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom and France’s Electricite de France (EDF) to explore potential collaboration on large Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) projects, in a move that underscores India’s push to expand its nuclear power capacity.
The engagements will focus on evaluating cooperation across the full lifecycle of large nuclear projects, spanning design, construction, operation and long-term maintenance. A central element of the discussions is indigenisation, with NTPC seeking to increase domestic manufacturing, local supply-chain participation and technology absorption in line with the country’s self-reliance objectives.
The development comes as India looks to scale up nuclear power as a reliable, low-carbon source of baseload electricity to meet rising demand and support its long-term climate goals. Nuclear energy is increasingly being positioned as a key complement to renewable sources such as solar and wind, which are subject to intermittency.
NTPC’s discussions with Rosatom and EDF also align with recent policy moves by the Indian government to ease legal and regulatory barriers and allow greater private sector participation in the nuclear energy sector. These reforms are aimed at attracting investment, advanced technology and global expertise into a segment that has historically been dominated by public sector entities.
Rosatom and EDF are among the world’s leading nuclear technology providers, with extensive experience in developing and operating large PWR-based projects globally. Any future collaboration would seek to combine their technical expertise with NTPC’s project execution capabilities, while strengthening localisation and domestic value creation.
While the non-disclosure agreements are exploratory in nature and do not imply firm project commitments, they set the stage for detailed technical and commercial assessments. Analysts see the move as a clear signal of India’s intent to accelerate nuclear capacity additions through international partnerships, supported by a more enabling policy framework and a stronger focus on indigenisation.