Indian state-owned NTPC Ltd, the biggest utility in the country, is looking to acquire stakes in uranium assets globally to secure fuel for the expected massive expansion of India’s nuclear power capacity.
NTPC, currently the only nuclear power generator in the country, has issued a tender to hire consultants to help it identify potential uranium mines in which it could invest in uranium-producing countries, including Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, and South Africa.
Bids are due by July 16, according to the tender document cited by Bloomberg.
India’s current supply of uranium comes from state-held Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL), which mines the nuclear fuel in the Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh states.
As India is pushing to boost its nuclear power capacity tenfold over the next two decades, NTPC is getting ready to secure uranium supply from mines overseas.
“The scale of planned capacity addition necessitates securing a sustainable fuel supply of uranium,” NTPC said in the bid document, as carried by Bloomberg.
“Considering the limitations of domestic fuel and mining reserves, overseas exploration and the acquisition of uranium mines are required,” the state-owned firm said.
At the end of 2025, India’s government approved the landmark Atomic Energy Bill, which allows private companies to invest in its nuclear energy industry for the first time, as the country looks to boost its nuclear power capacity tenfold within two decades.
A panel set up by India’s power ministry has said in a report that India’s goal to boost its installed nuclear power capacity to 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2047, up from just 8.8 GW now, would require as much as 19.28 trillion Indian rupees, or $204 billion at current exchange rates, of cumulative capital.
NTPC is expected to account for 30% of the new nuclear power capacity installations by 2047, hence, the start of the search for uranium supply from mines overseas.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com