NPCIL Invites Bids for Engineering and 3D Design Services for Bharat Small Reactors
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has invited bids for engineering and 3D design services in connection with its Bharat Small Reactor (BSR) programme, adding to a series of design and engineering initiatives NPCIL has undertaken as it moves the BSR project toward execution.
Bharat Small Reactors are compact 220 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) designed to provide captive power for hard-to-abate industrial sectors such as steel, aluminium, copper and cement, helping these industries decarbonise their operations. NPCIL first invited industry proposals for setting up BSRs in December 2024, drawing interest from companies including Reliance Industries, Adani Power, Tata Power, Hindalco Industries, Jindal Steel & Power and JSW Energy, with the bid deadline for that request for proposals extended to March 31, 2026.
Engineering support for the BSR programme has been building over the past year. NPCIL had earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Engineers India Limited (EIL) for engineering services covering the analysis and design of civil structures, as well as broader conceptual design and engineering of structures, systems and components for the reactor. The latest tender for engineering and 3D design services adds to this pipeline of technical work supporting the BSR's development.
Under the BSR business model, successful private bidders would finance the entire project, including capital and operational expenditure, while NPCIL retains supervision, asset ownership and operational control; bidders would hold beneficial rights over the net electricity generated for captive use. The programme forms part of India's broader push to expand nuclear capacity from around 8.8 GW currently to a target of 100 GW by 2047, following legislative changes that opened the nuclear power sector to private investment.