Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 25: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed here today that North India’s first Nuclear plant is coming up in Haryana, at a place called Gorakhpur, which is just over 100 kms away from the union capital of New Delhi.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 10th Nuclear Energy Conclave here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, like in Space technology and ISRO, in the Department of Atomic Energy too, in the last four-and-a-half years, an effort has been made to extend the Nuclear Programme, which was hitherto confined mostly to South Indian States, to the other States of the country as well. He said, while ISRO has set up two Space Study Centres, one at Jammu in North India and the second at Agartala in Northeast respectively, the Department of Atomic Energy is confident that the new Nuclear Plant in Haryana will become functional in the next few years and serve as an important source of energy for the region.
Lauding the Modi government’s path-breaking initiatives to boost the Nuclear Programme and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal intervention in this regard, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this was the first government which brought an amendment in the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) to allow new nuclear / atomic plants to be set up as joint-ventures with the PSUs. This decision, he said, will go a long way in offering the requisite financial and other support for the expansion of the Nuclear Programme in the country. In addition, he said, the Modi government has also allocated an exclusive budgetary support of Rs.3.000 crore per year to promote the Nuclear Projects.
Dr Jitendra Singh also referred to the efforts being made by the Department of Atomic Energy to explore new possible locations for setting up the nuclear plants and in this regard, possibilities are being explored in several States, including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Meghalaya.
Paying rich tributes the founding father of India’s Nuclear Programme, Dr Homi Bhabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said, we have now truly vindicated Homi Bhabha’s dream of using Nuclear Power for peaceful purposes. In the years to come, he said, Nuclear Power will be an important source for India’s growing needs of energy and by 2050, more than 1/4th of India’s electricity needs will be met by nuclear energy which will also be a clean and cost effective source.
On the occasion, the Minister also released the Conference Souvenir along with Dr S. Banerjee, Chancellor, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anil Razdan, President, India Energy Forum, Dr K.N. Vyas, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and others.
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