Energy: Power Made in India

The idea

Suresh drives an auto in Jaipur. He charges overnight and spends a fraction of what he once spent on petrol. His conversion kit was paid for by a bank loan that he repays from his fuel savings.

A family drives from Delhi to Mumbai in an electric car, stopping for a short charge and a cup of tea every 25 km if they wish. In central India, a retiring coal plant's land, water and grid lines are reused for a new nuclear reactor that will supply clean power for 40 years. In Lucknow, a small business owner picks her electricity company the way she picks a mobile plan.

I believe energy made at home is freedom. Every litre of oil we replace with Indian electricity keeps money in India, cleans our air and builds Indian industry. France faced the oil shock of 1973 with no oil of its own, so it chose to build reactors on a few standard designs, and within a decade nuclear was its main power source. We can make the same kind of choice, with electric roads today and a fleet of standard reactors for tomorrow.

Why now

Oil is our largest import. We imported crude worth $137 billion in FY25. Every 10% of road fuel we replace with electricity keeps about ₹53,900 crore a year in India (estimate).

The shift has already begun. In FY26, about 1 in 3 new passenger three-wheelers was electric. The market is ready to scale.

Nuclear has room to grow a hundredfold. Our capacity is 8.78 GW, and the SHANTI Act 2025 has opened reactor building to private firms.

Our power companies have turned a corner, with a profit of ₹2,701 crore in FY25. Recovering the remaining 15% lost to theft and unpaid bills is the next gain.

The big moves

Here is the path I see, one step after another.

1. First, electrify the fleets we already control. We start with government vehicles, every new city and state bus, and every new taxi and auto-rickshaw. One way is per-km bus contracts: a certified private operator owns and runs the bus, and the state pays for every verified kilometre. We aim for 50,000 e-buses ordered in 12 months.

2. Next, put a charger every 25 km on every national highway. About 11,700 sites, on both sides of the road, go to certified operators who post a bond. Pairing busy sites with quiet ones lets private money build them all.

3. Then, let makers lead the shift in private sales. A clean-vehicle quota rises each quarter, and makers who beat it sell credits to those who need them. Owners of petrol two-wheelers and autos can convert with a certified kit on a guaranteed loan, repaid from fuel savings. Every new vehicle meets Europe's Euro 7 standard within 1 year, which limits brake dust as well as exhaust and sets a minimum battery life for electric cars, with any remaining gap published every year.

4. Build nuclear power as a fleet. A Nuclear 100x Act sets the goal of about 880 GW in law. We build 3 standard designs, approved once and repeated quickly, starting with 100 GW of orders in year 1, retiring coal plants as the first sites, and a strong, independent AERB.

5. Finally, give every home a choice of power company. The Electricity (Amendment) Bill lets several companies sell power over one shared wire network, and states that bring in private partners gain extra borrowing room.

Today vs the new way

Here is how I see the energy shift comparing with where we stand today.

The whole bus and charger build, about ₹64,700 crore paid back by fares and charging fees, equals about 14 months of the oil saved from replacing 10% of road fuel, and almost all of it is private money.

Proof it works

Shenzhen electrified every city bus. The Chinese city moved its entire fleet of 16,359 city buses to electric by the end of 2017.

Norway showed a steady phase-in works. After a published, step-by-step plan, about 96% of new cars sold in Norway in 2025 were electric.

France built a nuclear nation in fifteen years. The Messmer plan of 1974 built 56 reactors in about 15 years on a few standard designs, and nuclear became France's main power source within a decade.

Delhi turned its power around. Delhi privatised distribution in 2002, and Tata Power Delhi raised its collections, cutting the share of power lost to theft and unpaid bills from 53% to below 10%.

What success looks like

• In the first 30 days: the government fleet goes electric, the first 25,000 e-buses are ordered, all 11,700 highway charger sites are open to operators, and the Nuclear 100x Act is introduced.
• Within 1 year: 50,000 e-buses ordered and 20,000 running; every new taxi, ride-hailing car and auto-rickshaw electric.
• Within 1 year: the 11,700 highway sites live at 97% uptime, and the two-wheeler quota at 100% with cars at about 40%.
• Within 1 year: the Nuclear 100x Act passed, 100 GW of contracts signed, 300 sites reserved, and first concrete poured at the 10 reactor sites already in pre-project work.
• After year 1: new nuclear power flows from about year 6, and at 40 GW a year India reaches 880 GW in about 25 years.

Guardrail ideas

Ideas to start the conversation, for the builders, experts and the public to shape together.

• Chargers work when drivers arrive. Any site below 97% uptime pays a daily charge, with the site passing to the next certified operator after a sustained shortfall, and at least 50% renewable power at public chargers by month 12.
• Safety leads every reactor. An independent AERB rules on each new design within 180 days and each repeat unit within 90 days, with every ruling and safety report public and full insurance backed by a government pool.
• The shift keeps pace with supply. A supply brake holds the last two-wheeler step for a quarter if national output falls short.
• Operators are paid on time. A central payment-security fund pays bus operators within 30 days and recovers from any late state's transfers.

FAQs

Q: Can India make enough batteries for this pace?

A: We match the pace to supply, so every step is one we can take. Fleets and small vehicles with small batteries move first, cars and trucks rise steadily, magnet-free motors count double, and the supply brake steadies the final step. Cell factories on ready plots grow Indian supply from year 2.

Q: Is private nuclear power safe?

A: Safety comes first at every step. An independent AERB with ten times its staff rules on every design, every ruling and safety report is public, and every operator carries insurance up to the SHANTI Act cap.

Q: What happens to fuel-tax revenue?

A: The budget stays whole. The change is counted, about ₹19,000 crore across the Centre and the states in year 1, and fully covered by the savings on public works in Chapter 20.

The detailed blueprint for this chapter, a starting draft for the mission heads, industry and the private sector to refine, is in the Implementation Annex.