NTPC picks Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha sites for nuclear plants in its 30 GW-by-2047 push

India's largest power producer is putting pins in the map for its nuclear future. NTPC has identified three locations — in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha — for nuclear power plants, according to reports published on 7-8 October 2026. The sites are part of the company's long-term plan to build 30 GW of nuclear capacity across 14 states by 2047.

NTPC has submitted feasibility reports for the three sites to the Atomic Energy Commission for approval, and final locations are expected to be confirmed only after regulatory clearance.

Who NTPC is talking to

According to an official quoted in the reports, NTPC is evaluating technology partnerships with four global reactor vendors for pressurised water reactor (PWR) projects at these sites:

• Westinghouse (United States)
• Holtec International (United States)
• Rosatom (Russia)
• EDF (France)

NTPC has earlier signed non-disclosure agreements with Rosatom and EDF on large PWRs, while Holtec is better known for its small modular reactor designs. The company has not issued a formal statement on the sites, and the reported details come from an unnamed official, so the vendor list should be read as options under evaluation rather than decisions.

Why a coal giant is going nuclear

NTPC built its scale on coal. Its installed capacity is around 89-91 GW, and it has set targets of about 149 GW by 2032 and 244 GW by 2037, with a growing share from renewables, storage and now nuclear.

Nuclear fits a specific gap. Solar and wind are cheap but variable; batteries are getting cheaper but still best suited to shifting energy over hours, not days or seasons. Large nuclear plants provide steady, low-carbon "baseload" power — the role coal plays today. If India is to meet its net-zero 2070 goal while electricity demand keeps rising with industry, data centres, cooling and electric mobility, it needs a firm clean power source alongside renewables.

India's national target is 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, up from roughly 8-9 GW today. NTPC's 30 GW ambition would make it one of the largest contributors to that goal.

The policy shift that made this possible

Two changes underpin NTPC's plans.

First, the SHANTI Act, in force since 20 December 2025, opened India's civil nuclear power sector to wider participation beyond the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which had operated almost all of the country's reactors. That reform allows companies such as NTPC, and potentially private firms, to own and operate nuclear capacity.

Second, NTPC has built dedicated vehicles for nuclear:

• NTPC Parmanu Urja Nigam Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary for nuclear projects.
• Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Ltd (ASHVINI), a joint venture with NPCIL (49:51) that is building the 2,800 MW Mahi Banswara project in Rajasthan — NTPC's first nuclear project, based on India's indigenous 700 MW pressurised heavy water reactor design.

Fuel sourcing for nuclear plants remains under the central government framework.

Indigenous reactors versus imported designs

The choice of reactor technology is one of the most consequential decisions ahead. India has deep experience with its own pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), which run on natural uranium and have been standardised at 700 MW. Imported PWRs offer larger unit sizes and use enriched fuel, but they bring dependence on foreign vendors for designs, components and fuel, as well as complex questions around liability and cost.

Many large Indian utilities are now weighing exactly this trade-off. Indigenous PHWRs keep value and know-how at home and build on a domestic supply chain; foreign PWRs could add capacity faster if commercial and regulatory terms can be agreed. NTPC exploring both routes — PHWRs through ASHVINI and PWRs with foreign partners — suggests it is hedging.

India is also developing its own small modular reactors, including the 55 MWe SMR-55 and the Bharat Small Modular Reactor, which could eventually serve industrial sites and data centres.

What it means for the states

Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha are not traditional nuclear states; India's existing reactors are concentrated in places such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. New plants in eastern and central India would bring large construction investment, long-term skilled jobs and firm power closer to fast-growing demand centres.

For NTPC, which already runs large thermal stations in eastern India, these regions also offer existing grid connections, land banks and operational experience — advantages that could shorten development timelines compared with entirely new sites.

They would also bring familiar challenges: land acquisition, water availability for cooling, public consultation and community acceptance. Past nuclear projects in India have faced long delays on precisely these issues.

Storage alongside nuclear

NTPC's broader clean-energy build-out also includes storage. NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) CEO Somes Bandyopadhyay said this week that the company will soon begin commercial operation of 500 MWh of battery energy storage and plans another 500 MWh by the end of 2026-27. Nuclear for baseload, renewables for cheap energy and batteries for flexibility is the mix most grid planners now expect.

What to watch

• Atomic Energy Commission and regulatory approvals for the three sites.
• Any formal technology agreement with a foreign vendor — and its commercial and liability terms.
• Progress at Mahi Banswara, which will show how fast NTPC can execute nuclear construction.

The site selection is an early step in a decades-long programme, but it marks NTPC's transition from talking about nuclear to planning where it will actually be built.

Sources

• https://indianmasterminds.com/news/ntpc-nuclear-power-plants-mp-bihar-odisha-30-gw-2047-240423/
• https://electricalmirror.net/ntpc-identifies-three-sites-as-it-targets-30-gw-nuclear-capacity-by-2047/
• https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/ntpc-plans-30gw-nuclear-capacity-by-2047-across-14-states/tldr
• https://www.insightsonindia.com/2026/10/08/ntpcs-nuclear-power-expansion/
• https://indianmasterminds.com/news/ntpc-nvvn-500-mwh-bess-commissioning-1000-mwh-fy27-240574/
• https://www.angelone.in/news/market-updates/ntpc-arm-nvvn-set-to-start-500-mwh-bess-operations-plans-another-500-mwh