India aims for 100 GW nuclear power by 2047, offering always-on supply to help power the nation’s fast-growing data centres.

Data centres are huge buildings packed with computers, and they cannot afford power cuts.

The government’s own pitch is that nuclear plants deliver electricity around the clock, which suits that need.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh made a similar point in October at the Bloomberg Economy Forum 2026.

He said nuclear power would work alongside other energy sources to keep electricity steady as AI use grows, and that the programme stays focused on peaceful uses.

The starting point is small. India runs 24 reactors with a combined capacity of 8.78 GW, which gives it around 3% of the country’s electricity.

Nine more units, adding up to 7.5 GW, are under construction. The government expects capacity to reach 22.38 GW by 2031-32.

It has also set aside Rs 20,000 crore for small modular reactors, with at least five home-built designs due to run by 2033.

A new law backs the push. The SHANTI Act, 2025, replaces the old 1962 nuclear law and allows limited private participation under official oversight.

Demand is the other half of the story. Wood Mackenzie expects India’s data centre capacity to grow from 2.2 GW in 2025 to 12 GW by 2030.

A discussion paper by the Policy Consensus Centre is more cautious and sees 4.5 GW to 9 GW. Hurdles remain. KPMG puts the cost of nuclear plants at $2 billion to $6 billion for every gigawatt.

India also has limited uranium. The government released draft licensing rules in August, and sources reported on 5 November that they are still being finalised.

KPMG says hitting 100 GW would mean adding roughly 4 GW to 5 GW every year. That compares with 8.78 GW in total today.

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