India and Russia are intensifying their nuclear energy collaboration, incorporating private companies, advancing next-generation reactor technologies, and exploring wider industrial applications amid talks to bolster their robust partnership.
Russia and India are preparing to deepen their nuclear energy partnership, with talks now covering new reactor projects, next-generation technologies and a broader role for Indian private companies, according to reports from New Delhi. Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said the two sides are looking beyond their existing work at Kudankulam and towards a wider industrial and technological alliance.
A key change is India’s decision to open parts of the sector to private business. After the Shanti Act was passed, Indian firms were able to enter atomic-energy contracts with foreign partners, ending a model that had been handled mainly through the country’s Department of Atomic Energy. Likhachev said several major private groups have now joined discussions with Rosatom, a shift that could widen cooperation well beyond government-to-government deals.
The talks also include large power reactors, small modular reactors and non-energy uses of nuclear technology, such as medicine, environmental treatment and agriculture, Bernama reported. Kudankulam remains the centrepiece of the relationship: two reactors are already supplying electricity in southern India, while additional units are under construction. Rosatom is also contracted to provide fuel across the plant’s full life cycle.
Beyond power generation, the partnership is moving into industrial technology and supply chains. Business Standard and other Indian outlets reported agreements covering titanium sponge production, digital plant systems, additive manufacturing, composite materials and logistics, as both sides seek alternatives to Western suppliers and try to localise more production. Rosatom has said it wants to help India reach its goal of 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, while India is aiming to build a more self-reliant nuclear sector.
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