Tata arm pitches DAE to do an ISRO, work more with pvt sector; sees n-power revenues trebling

Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE), which has been associated with the country's nuclear programme for over five decades, feels it is time for the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to focus on strategic objectives and work more with the private sector on the energy front, according to a top company official.

The city-headquartered DAE should take some inspiration from its state-run space counterpart Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has helped accelerate the pace of growth for the private sector, TCE's managing director and chief executive Amit Sharma said.

"DAE was formed for national strategic objectives, not to produce electricity... It should retain that core identity and let the private sector completely work on nuclear (energy)," Sharma told PTI.

Facilities like labs at Mumbai's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) should be made available to the private sector for testing their concepts, Sharma said, adding that other countries, including China, the US and South Korea, are already doing so through structured initiatives.

Sharma said that before the passage of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act (SHANTI), which has piqued private sector interest in the nuclear sector, non-state enterprises were not allowed to carry out any research in nuclear science.

The company believes the nuclear sector offers significant business opportunities, especially after the passage of the SHANTI Act, which addresses liability concerns.

TCE is working with a slew of entities and groups, including JSW, Reliance Industries and the Bajajs to carry out feasibility studies and other work to set up the complex nuclear power plants, Sharma said.

Around 2 per cent of TCE's current Rs 3,000 crore in revenues comes from the nuclear energy sector, Sharma said, adding that he sees this going up to 5-6 per cent by the end of FY30 as private-sector play increases.

Sharma said he sees the state-run NTPC and one or two deep-pocketed corporate groupings to set up large nuclear power plants, pointing out that at an investment of over USD 3 million per MW, only limited entities can afford investing around USD 6 billion that will be required for a 2,000 MW facility.

There will be increased interest in setting up smaller plants, including the highly anticipated small modular reactors set to mature by FY31, Sharma said, explaining that plants of 200-300 MW can be of interest to captive power producers and also the data centre operators, which are investing a lot in India as well.

Given the challenges around land acquisition, we can also consider setting up small or medium nuclear plants at already existing thermal power plants which can be retrofitted.

However, he also pointed out a few industry concerns. The government has to commit to a steady supply of fuel required to run a plant, he said, adding that the same is essential for any entity putting in massive capital in the sector.

Additionally, there is also a requirement to form a truly independent regulatory apparatus, he said, adding that "we need to move ahead of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)".

On the AI front, Sharma said the company is already working with five customers in the data centre space and six semiconductor projects. However, this is unlikely to be a major revenue contributor in the future, as much of the work is relatively low in complexity and highly commoditised, he added.

The company sees a halving of revenue growth to 14-16 per cent in FY27 due to the geopolitical uncertainities which has resulted in clients across the world being hesitant to invest, he said, adding that the operating profit margin is likely to widen to 13-14 per cent in FY27 from the 12.5 per cent largely on the back of the integration of US acquisition CDI Engineering Solutions getting complete, he said.

TCE has 8,500 employees and will continue adding over 500 freshers from campuses every year, Sharma said, adding that it has a non-linear relationship between human resource additions and topline expansion.