Our Bureau
New Delhi
A high-level US industry delegation comprising representatives from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) as we speak held discussions with Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh, on rising opportunities for personal investment and industry collaboration in India’s nuclear sector.
The delegations’ go to, facilitated by the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, introduced collectively senior representatives from the US nuclear industry, enterprise stakeholders and officers related with India-U.S. cooperation in civil nuclear power and superior applied sciences.
Jitendra Singh mentioned that India and the United States as we speak share a powerful and future-oriented partnership in science, expertise, clear power and rising sectors, with civil nuclear cooperation steadily gaining strategic and financial significance.
He mentioned the launch of the US-India TRUST Initiative through the assembly between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on February 13, 2025, has opened new avenues for collaboration in important and rising applied sciences.
The Minister mentioned the TRUST initiative, centred round trusted expertise partnerships, resilient provide chains and innovation ecosystems, offers a powerful framework for deeper engagement amongst governments, industry, academia and startups in areas resembling synthetic intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology, quantum applied sciences, superior supplies, important minerals, power and house applied sciences.
Referring to India’s long-term clear power objectives underneath the imaginative and prescient of Viksit Bharat 2047, Dr Jitendra Singh mentioned India goals to extend its nuclear energy capability from the current 8.8 GW to 100 GW by 2047 by way of a phased and fastidiously deliberate enlargement technique.
He mentioned India’s quickly rising nuclear power programme is creating main opportunities for world partnerships in manufacturing, expertise cooperation, provide chain integration and superior analysis, in accordance with a launch.
The Minister knowledgeable the delegation that India has not too long ago enacted the SHANTI Act, 2025, a serious coverage reform aimed toward facilitating larger participation of the non-public sector, together with international participation, in the nuclear power sector.
He mentioned the reform is predicted to create a extra enabling ecosystem for investment, industrial collaboration, manufacturing partnerships and expertise cooperation aligned with India’s Nuclear Energy Mission.
He added that the implementation framework underneath the Act is being finalised to additional strengthen collaborative opportunities in the sector.
The Union Minister mentioned India can be transferring forward with plans for growth of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), supported by an allocation of almost Rs 20,000 crore, and added that there’s vital scope for India-US collaboration in superior areas resembling micro-reactors, AI-enabled nuclear security methods, scientific computing, nuclear power modelling and institutional capability constructing.
The discussions additionally reviewed progress in a number of ongoing India-US collaborative initiatives together with the proposed Westinghouse AP1000 challenge at Kovvada, cooperation underneath the Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Energy Working Group (CNEWG), hydrogen manufacturing and built-in power methods, machine studying and AI functions, uncommon earth collaboration, and high-intensity superconducting proton accelerator applied sciences by way of Fermilab partnerships.
The assembly additional lined progress in the LIGO-India challenge being collectively applied by the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science & Technology in collaboration with the U.S.-based LIGO Laboratory and the National Science Foundation.
Approved with a budgetary provision of Rs 2,600 crore, the challenge is thought to be one of the crucial vital examples of superior scientific collaboration between India and the United States.
The interplay concluded with a shared dedication to deepen sensible, industry-led and mutually helpful cooperation between India and the United States in clear power, nuclear applied sciences, superior manufacturing and innovation-driven sectors.
The interplay centered on India’s formidable Nuclear Energy Mission, current coverage reforms enabling larger non-public sector participation, and the increasing scope of India-U.S. cooperation in clear power and important applied sciences.
Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Dr Rajesh S. Gokhale, senior officers from the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science & Technology, alongside with representatives from U.S. industry organisations, participated in the discussions.
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