DAVANAGERE: With the expansion of the Nuclear Power capacity at Kaiga in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka will be in a key position in nuclear production in the country in future.
The Centre informed the Lok Sabha that two additional 700 MW reactors at Kaiga in Uttara Kannada district are under construction. Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh said, “The four Kaiga units, each with a capacity of 220 MW, are operational, while Kaiga-5 and Kaiga-6, with a combined capacity of 1,400 MW, are under construction.”
The details were given in response to a question by Davangere MP Dr Prabha Mallikarjun. The Centre said the expansion is part of its broader plan to increase nuclear power generation to meet the country’s growing electricity demand, including in Karnataka.
“India currently has an installed nuclear power capacity of 8,780 MW across 24 nuclear power plants, with nuclear energy accounting for 3.1% of total electricity generation in 2025-26.
The capacity is projected to rise to about 22 gigawatts (GW) by 2031-32, as projects at various stages of construction, commissioning and pre-project activity are completed. Kaiga in Uttara Kannada is among the six nuclear projects under construction or commissioning across the country. Besides Karnataka, projects are under way in Rajasthan, Haryana and Tamil Nadu,” he informed.
Dr Singh said, “Nuclear plants follow a multi-layered defence-in-depth approach, with redundancy, diversity and fail-safe features. Safety reviews are conducted at multiple levels and operations are carried out by trained and licensed personnel, with continuous monitoring by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB),” he elaborated.
The Centre has set a longer-term target of 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission for Viksit Bharat, he added.