Business · India Bureau
India must expand green finance rules to support nuclear energy expansion
A senior government think-tank official has called for India to revise its green finance criteria to enable nuclear power to access climate funding. The move is seen as critical to achieving India's ambitious nuclear capacity targets.
LSN India ·
India needs to broaden its green finance framework to include nuclear energy as an eligible investment category, according to Abhay Karandikar, a member of the NITI Aayog policy commission. Currently, nuclear power faces restrictions in accessing green finance instruments despite its low-carbon credentials, limiting funding avenues for expansion projects.
Karandikar's remarks highlight a disconnect between India's climate commitments and its nuclear energy ambitions. Nuclear power generates electricity without greenhouse gas emissions during operation, yet traditional green finance taxonomies have historically excluded or restricted atomic energy due to concerns about waste disposal and safety protocols.
To realise its target of 100 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2047, India must simultaneously address financing gaps and build specialised technical expertise. The country currently operates around 6.8 GW of nuclear capacity and faces significant challenges in workforce development and infrastructure expansion needed for the proposed tenfold increase.
Industry experts argue that revising green finance norms would unlock institutional investment flows from pension funds, insurance companies, and international climate finance mechanisms. Such a move could accelerate India's transition to clean energy while supporting the country's net-zero commitments under international climate agreements. The government has yet to formally respond to recommendations for updating its green finance criteria.