NPCIL announces ‘new benchmark’ in nation’s reactor construction landscape
India says it has achieved the highest monthly concreting rate for a pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) unit project, placing 26,700 cubic meters in a single month at the Kaiga nuclear power station in Karnataka state, west India.
State-owned nuclear company Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) said the achievements sets “a new benchmark in India’s nuclear construction landscape” and reflects the project team’s ability to deliver at scale with consistency and speed.
NPCIL announced earlier this month that it had begun construction of Units 5 and 6 at Kaiga with the pouring of first concrete for the nuclear island foundation slabs.
The operation took place on 1 March 2026, marking the formal start of construction of the two 700-MW PHWRs at the site.
NPCIL said Kaiga-5 is expected to achieve first criticality about five years from the first concrete milestone, meaning a target deadline in 2031.
Kaiga-5 and -6 belong to the IPHWR-700 reactor class, a Generation III+ evolution of India’s earlier 220-MW and 540-MW PHWR designs. These designs use natural uranium oxide fuel and heavy water as both coolant and neutron moderator.
The Kaiga units will be part of a series of 10 Indian-designed PHWRs to be built in “fleet mode”, designed to bring economies of scale and maximise efficiency.
The 10 plants are Kaiga-5 and Kaiga-6 , Mahi Banswara-1, -2, -3 and -4 in Rajasthan state, Gorakhpur-3 and -4 in Haryana state, and Chutka-1 and -2 in Madhya Pradesh state.
There are four smaller 202-MW PHWR units in commercial operation at Kaiga. Kaiga-1 and -2 began operation in 2000, while Kaiga-3 and -4 started in 2007 and 2011.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s reactor database, India has 21 commercial plants in operation and six under construction, excluding Kaiga-5 and -6.
