India urged to review green finance rules, build workforce for nuclear expansion

Business Recorder reported that India needs to revisit parts of its green finance framework and widen its skilled workforce if it wants to lift nuclear capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2047. NITI Aayog member Abhay Karandikar said the sovereign green bonds, green deposits and financing rules leave nuclear projects outside their scope. He made the remarks at a PowerGen India event in New Delhi, where installed nuclear capacity currently stands at 8.8 GW.

Industry is expected to require nearly $210 billion to expand from its present 8.8 GW base. Global lenders, the World Bank among them, have begun reviews to back nuclear projects, Karandikar added. Kalirajan S, managing director of EDF Nuclear Projects India Pvt, said nuclear courses are scarce across the education system, from schools up to universities, apart from a handful of premier institutes. Executives added that the clean energy sector already struggles to find enough qualified people.

EDF has already run certification courses for vendors in India and intends to widen them, aiming to build a domestic nuclear supply chain. NITI Aayog has set up a committee to examine how skills can grow at every level, spanning technician roles up to research work.