Indian Railways (IR) has planned to establish small nuclear power plants, with the support of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Ministry of Power (MoP), to meet its power requirements. Reportedly, IR is expected to provide land for the project, with site identification already in progress, along with guaranteed power consumption. Further, the MoP and DAE will facilitate the establishment of plants with fuel supply agreements.
With this, IR is likely to fulfill its traction requirements of 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, which includes 3 GW of renewable power, including hydropower, 3 GW of thermal and nuclear power, and 4 GW from power distribution companies. Moreover, the public sector financing arms under IR, including the Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC), are expected to provide the funding for these projects.