Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said that India would need clean and cost-effective nuclear power to meet its increasing demand for energy that is bound to go up by 4.2 per cent per year.
Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation will push up the demand for energy, the Vice President added. Presently, India is the third largest power producer in the world. However, its per capita power consumption, an indication of a developed society, is very low.
Vice President Naidu was speaking at the International conference on Recent Developments in Clean and Safe Nuclear Power Generation organised as part of the centenary celebrations of the Institution of Engineers (India) in Hyderabad from October 3-5, 2018.
He said that keeping the upward trend of power consumption in mind, an increase in the share of nuclear energy in the country’s overall energy matrix of the country is imperative for ensuring sustainable development. India is one of the few countries that is adhering to its Paris Climate Change Agreement targets.
Referring to the contributions of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, he said that India has been pursuing a robust three stage nuclear power programme as formulated by the eminent scientist and said that India has made a remarkable progress in producing a clean, low cost nuclear energy.
The Vice President said that an independent regulatory authority like AERB is crucial for ensuring safety standards and said that having such regulatory organization enabled India achieve a wonderful safety record in its nuclear power programme.
The Narendra Modi Government has revised its earlier ambitious target of adding 63,000 MW of nuclear power by the year 2031-32 to 22,480 MW.
