Govt announces ₹20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission to promote research and development

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Feb 1 announced a Nuclear Energy Mission to promote research and development of small modular reactors, with an outlay of ₹20,000 crore.

She also announced 10,000 fellowships for tech research at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in the next five years.

Besides, the finance minister proposed to set up a National Spatial Mission and set up the Gyaan Bharat Mission for the survey, documentation and conservation of manuscript heritage.

In February last year, the government announced the addition of 18 more nuclear power reactors with a cumulative capacity to generate 13,800 MWe of electricity, taking the total share of atomic power in the energy mix to 22,480 MWe by 2031-32.

(PTI)