A view of the Kaiga nuclear power plant in Karwar, where concreting of two new units began on Sunday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Ajit Kumar Mohanty on Sunday started concrete work for the construction of the fifth and sixth nuclear units at Kaiga in Uttara Kannada.
He said that 10 units of domestic PHW (Pressurized Heavy Water) reactor technology are being built in various nuclear power plants in the country.
Of these, two 700 MW PHW units are being built in Kaiga. With this technology, PHW used once in the reactor will be reused several times. These two units are being built at a cost of around ₹21,000 crore.
Dr. Mohanty started work by pressing a button. He later performed a puja to mark the commencement of the work. This is considered a significant milestone in the construction of nuclear power units.
A deadline of 59 months was set for the completion of the construction work of the unit. The main contractor is Megha Infra Ltd.
The Kaiga nuclear power plant has four units with a capacity of 220 MW. Construction work on the fifth and sixth units began in 2025. Rods for the construction of the reactor were attached to the foundations. Now concreting has started. After the commissioning of these two units, the power generation capacity of the Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant will be 2280 MW.
NPCL Chairman Bhuvan Chandra Pathak said that nuclear power plants are producing over 85 million units per day in the country and there is considerable revenue.
“Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant has achieved major milestones. We have started concreting work on unit 5 and 6 after getting permission from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. This is a major milestone,” he said.
According to the report, Kaiga plant director B. Vinod Kumar, fifth and sixth unit director Suresh Kulkarni and others were present.
Published – 01 March 2026 20:08 IST
