Pocket N-plants: small modular reactors.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 budget speeches highlighted India’s renewable energy targets.

• SMRs, smaller, flexible reactors, are expected to enter the mix.

• Each SMR will produce less than 300 MW of power.

• SMRs aim to be cheaper to build and safeguard than conventional nuclear facilities.

• They can be scaled up more easily than conventional reactors.

• SMRs require significant capital investments and require low-grade uranium for operation.

• Ms. Sitharaman announced a ₹20,000 crore outlay to study SMRs and operationalize five indigenous units by 2033.