India stands at a critical juncture in determining the long-term structure of its electricity sector. The country must simultaneously meet rapidly evolving electricity requirements, improve energy access and affordability, enhance energy security, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, address climate change, conserve increasingly stressed land and water resources, and ensure that the transition to a low-carbon electricity system remains socially and economically sustainable.
Yet, as of August 2026, the Government of India has moved from an earlier incremental expansion target to a much more ambitious 100 GW nuclear-capacity target by 2047—compared to the present capacity of about 8.78 GW. This is not even the most staggering figure on record. A lesser-known Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) document from 2008, A Strategy for the Growth of Electricity in India, envisioned increasing nuclear power capacity to about 275,000 MW by 2050.
These proposals for a massive expansion of nuclear power capacity deserve much more rigorous scrutiny than they have received so far.
The Global Warning Signs
Civil society is faced with many harsh realities, threats, and risks. Multiple developments around the globe—including a few in our own backyard—should point towards a rational approach to energy pathways. Consider what is happening in France, a country that has long championed nuclear power as its energy mainstay.
The combined effects of heatwave and drought have forced 13 French nuclear reactors offline this week, representing 20.4% of the country's nuclear generating capacity. The shutdowns, attributed to "environmental constraints" or "external environmental factors," mark the highest level recorded since 2015. At the very same time, solar power has been supporting France's grid as nuclear output slows—a telling indicator of where resilience truly lies in an era of climate disruption.
Romania tells a similar story. As the Danube drought forced a nuclear shutdown, the country was compelled to restart a coal plant—a retrograde step that no serious climate policy should countenance.
These are not isolated incidents. They are portents.
The Water Question
Nuclear power is voraciously water-dependent. The Kaiga nuclear power plant expansion in Karnataka, which I have previously flagged, will consume 7,500 cubic metres of water per hour—sufficient for the livelihood of 15 lakh people. In a country where water scarcity is already a lived reality for millions, this is not a minor trade-off. It is an indictment of our energy planning.
When we also take into objective account the highly unsubstantiated advocacy for massive additions to nuclear power capacity to cater to massively projected demand increases—due to AI/data centres, EVs, railway electrification, AC units, and more—the enormity of the problem before our society should become clearer.
Data centres, in particular, are emerging as a new front in water conflict. As a recent report warns, data centres and democratic decline could lead to more water conflict in the future. India's AI data centre build needs a critical debate on power and water—a debate that is conspicuously absent from current policy discourse.
The Neglected Alternative: Demand-Side Management
I have consistently argued that India's tendency to focus almost exclusively on expanding generation and transmission capacity, while neglecting demand-side management (DSM), is a profound policy failure. The assumption that we must build ever more capacity to meet ever-growing demand is not just environmentally destructive—it is economically inefficient.
There are other pathways. Rooftop micro wind turbines, for instance, are finally coming of age. In 2009, German startup SkyWind first showed its rooftop micro turbine design. Seventeen years later, the machine has secured certification, with Utah testing verifying roughly 615 kWh of electricity per year. This is not a silver bullet, but it is a symbol of the distributed, decentralised energy future that we should be embracing.
Farmers are turning to wind and solar to make fertiliser, changing the conversation about renewables. The battery boom is bringing round-the-clock solar closer, according to Ember. Even NTPC, India's largest power generator, aims for 244 GW capacity with a ₹16.86 trillion capex by 2037—but the question is not just about capacity; it is about the kind of capacity we are building.
A Call for Course Correction
There is a need to diligently examine whether our energy pathways and the consequential ecological and social impacts are in the interest of our people—and if not, what course corrections are required.
The 100 GW nuclear target is not just ambitious; it is a gamble with our ecological future. It assumes that water will be abundant, that climate events will not disrupt operations, that waste can be managed safely over millennia, and that the massive capital outlay could not be better spent on proven, scalable, and far less risky renewable alternatives.
These assumptions do not withstand scrutiny.
The global evidence is clear: nuclear power is vulnerable to the very climate crisis it purports to help solve. Solar and wind, by contrast, become more viable precisely when the sun shines brightest and the wind blows strongest—during the heatwaves and droughts that are becoming our new normal.
India's energy future must be built on realism, not fantasy. It must be people-centric, environment-friendly, and sustainable. It must recognise that the cheapest, cleanest, and most secure energy is the energy we do not need to generate in the first place.
The time for a rational, evidence-based debate on our energy pathways is now. Our people, our rivers, and our future depend on it.
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Shankar Sharma is a Power & Climate Policy Analyst based in Sagara, Karnataka. He has over 38 years of experience in India, Australia and New Zealand
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