India’s Nuclear Energy Play: NPCIL Teams Up with Engineers India to Build Small Modular Reactors

Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) has got central PSU Engineers India (EIL) onboard to develop the design and engineer the systems and components of Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR). In a statement on August 14, EIL mentioned that it has signed an MoU with the state-run nuclear power company. The move aims to support the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s goal to increase the share of nuclear power in the overall energy portfolio. 

“Engineers India inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) to provide “Engineering services towards development of conceptual design and engineering of structures, systems and components of Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR),” said EIL in a statement.

The concept design of BSMR had been completed as of April 2025, and a detailed engineering design of nuclear and non-nuclear systems has started. 

India's Nuclear Power Push

The development has come around a time when the government of India, to meet its target of 100 GW by 2047, has announced to open the sector for private investment. In the Union Budget 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had unveiled the Nuclear Energy Mission to focus on developing SMRs with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore for the programme. Under the mission, the government aims to build at least five indigenously designed and operational SMRs by 2033. 

But as of yet, two crucial pieces of legislation in this regard, like the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability of Nuclear Damage Act, haven’t been amended yet to allow the private sector’s entry. The government has set up a committee comprising members from the Department of Atomic Energy, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, NITI Aayog, and the Ministry of Law and Justice to assess the amendments required in the laws to facilitate private players’ entry. Companies like Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Nuclear Power, Tata Power and Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta have shown interest to enter the nuclear energy sector.