SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY - WordPress.com › 2017 › 07 › ... · pursue interdisciplinary research across several disciplines with a focus on nanoscale systems. Current research topics

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SCIENCE&

TECHNOLOGY

(PART – II)

CONTENTS

1. Mono Technology ....................................................................................5-11

2. Nuclear Technology .............................................................................. 12-34

3. Defence ................................................................................................... 35-49

4. Energy Resources .................................................................................. 50-72

Sl. No. TOPICS Pg. No.

GENERAL GEOGRAPHY

Chronicle IAS Academy [5]

Where the 20th Century was the era ofmacro-science, characterized by giganticBoeings, roaring Shuttles, draconian Dams,monstrous Refineries & Power plants, the 21stCentury will be dominated by nano-science,featured with microscopic precision. Nano-technology is the design, characterization,production and application of structures, devicesand systems by controlling shape and size at thenanoscale. Eight to ten atoms span onenanometer (nm). The human hair is approxi-mately 70,000 to 80,000 nm thick. Nano-scienceis the world of atoms, molecules, macro-molecules, quantum dots, and macromolecularassemblies.

With the help of nanotechnology, a large setof materials with distinct properties (optical,electrical, or magnetic) can be fabricated. Nano-particles take advantage of their dramaticallyincreased surface area to volume ratio. Theiroptical properties, e.g. fluorescence, become afunction of the particle diameter. When broughtinto a bulk material, nano-particles can stronglyinfluence the mechanical properties, such as thestiffness or elasticity. For example, traditionalpolymers can be reinforced by nano-particlesresulting in novel materials e.g. as lightweightreplacements for metals. In the coming days onecan clearly visualise the huge applications ofnano-science in different fields as follows:

NANO SCIENCE IN INDIA

Nano-tube Filter: The scientists fromBanaras Hindu University have devised a simplemethod to produce carbon nanotube filters thatefficiently remove micro to nano-scalecontaminants from water and heavyhydrocarbons from petroleum. Made entirely ofcarbon nanotubes, the filters are easilymanufactured. The nanotube compositionmakes the filters strong, reusable, and heatresistant, and they can be cleaned easily forreuse.

Typhoid Detection Kit: Using the nano-sensor, developed by Prof. A.K. Sood of IISc,Bangalore, a Typhoid Detection Kit has beendeveloped by DRDE, Gwalior. Typhoid fevercaused by Salmonella typhi is a major healthproblem and an important challenge to healthauthorities of third world countries due tounsatisfactory water supply, poor sanitaryconditions, malnutrition, emergence of antibioticresistant strains, etc.

Gas Flow Induced Generation of Voltagefrom Solids: Prof AK Sood, Professor of Physicsat IISc and his student Shankar Ghosh havefound that the liquid flow in carbon nano-tubescan generate electric current. One of the mostexciting applications to emerge from thediscovery is the possibility of a heart pacemaker- like device with nano-tubes, which will sit inthe human body and generate power from blood.Instead of batteries, the device will generatepower by itself to regulate defective heartrhythm.

Drug Delivery System: A research groupheaded by Professor A. N. Maitra of theUniversity of Delhi has developed 11 patentabletechnologies for improved drug delivery systemsusing nanoparticles. Four of these processes havebeen granted U.S. patents. One of the importantachievements at the initial stage of drug deliveryresearch was development of a reverse micellesbased process for the synthesis of hydrogel and‘smart’ hydrogel nanoparticles for encapsulatingwater-soluble drugs. This method enabled oneto synthesize hydrogel nanoparticles of size lessthan 100 nm diameter.

PROGRAMMES FOR DEVELOPMENTOF NANO TECHNOLOGIES IN INDIA

Support to Nanotechnology BusinessIncubator (NBI) at NCL, Pune continued duringthe year 2012-13. This NBI has nurtured activitiesby 7 start-up companies on items like-computational modelling of flow and chemical

MANO

TECHNOLOGY

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processes, therapeutic potential ofbiotechnologically engineered antibodies, ocularand maxillofacial implants, and 12 start-upcompanies are under incubation presently asResident Incubates on items like maxillo-facialsurgery, organic chemical synthesis etc. Supportto other ongoing projects in this categorycontinued during the year. Significant progresshas been made in these projects.

Centre for Nano Science and Engineering(CeNSE)

The Centre for Nano Science andEngineering (CeNSE) was established in 2010 topursue interdisciplinary research across severaldisciplines with a focus on nanoscale systems.Current research topics include, but are notlimited to nanoelectronics, MEMS/NEMS,nanomaterials and devices, photonics, nano-biotechnology, solar cells and computationalnano-engineering. Apart from the regular facultymembers at CeNSE, almost 40 faculty membersfrom different departments at IISc are associatedin the academic and research activities at thecentre. The centre offers PhD programmes in awide range of areas, and has close interactionswith the industry.

A state-of-the art nanofabrication facilitywith a clean room spanning 1400 square metersis located at the centre. In addition, there areseveral characterization labs that cater tomaterial, electronic, mechanical, chemical andoptical characterization.

Basic Research Promotion

25 new individual scientist-centric R&Dprojects were funded during the year 2012-13which focused on fundamental scientific studieson nano-scale systems. Some of these projectswere related to:

Study of catalytic activity of nano size metalsand metal oxides prepared by novel orconventional routes; experimental and first-principles theoretical studies of metal oxidenanostructures for photoelectrochemical splittingof water; studies on magneto-transport inmagnetic tunnel junctions; studies on bonetargeted nano drug delivery systems fortreatment of osteo-degenerative disease inimprovement of women health; studies onsuperferromagnetism in magnetic nanoparticle

systems; development of nano fibrous membranepolymer electrolytes and nano structuredelectrode materials for lithium rechargeablebatteries; development of hybrid nanomaterialsfor energy production from renewable sources;development of titania aerogel photoanode fordesensitized solar cell application; computationalstudies of bare and zeolite-supported metalnanoclusters and their application in catalysis;mechanistic studies on extra cellular biosynthesisof metal nanoparticles; development of proteinnanoparticles delivery system for targeting anti-retroviral drugs to HIV infected cells;multifunctional materials for electrochemicalenergy conversion and storage devices; synthesisand characterization of novel nanoparticles andstudy of their interactions with stem cells;development of parenteral sustained releasedosage forms and colon targeted drug deliverysystems for low molecular weight heparin.

� Folic Acid Super Paramagnetic Iron OxideNanoparticles (FA-SPIONs) weredeveloped which are highly stable,biocompatible, with prolong and betterbiodistribution profile as compared tocommercially available SPIONs. It wasalso found out that developed FA-SPIONshave high selectivity and specificity tocancer cells. Also, Folic acid conjugatedQuantum Dots were synthesized whichare stable, biocompatible with goodfluorescence properties. Preparation ofbioceramics using synthesized mullite andcolloidal silica together was done.

� Au-Ni, Cu-Co, Cu-Ni multilayernanowires have been synthesized usingpotentiostatic electrodeposition. Nano-channels of anodic alumina membranewere used as template. Morphology of thewires has been studied, structuralcharacterization has been done,Superconducting Quantum InterferenceDevice (SQUID) was done to measure themagnetic properties. Impedancemeasurements were also made.

� Metal phosphide (MxPy) electrodes wereprepared by direct electro-deposition,reporting the synthesis of high temperaturematerials at low temperature usingaqueous electrolyte. The nanoarchi-tectured electrode assembly demonstrated


high energy capacity as well as highpower density as compared to traditionalflat lithium battery electrode using anyelectroactive materials.

� Coiled carbon nanotubes (CCNT) havebeen synthesized on the carbon fibresubstrate. The necessary conditions forcoiled nanostructure growth have beeninvestigated. Catalyst coated and CCNTcoated substrates have been characte-rized. CCNTs, carbon microcoils (CMCs)and CNCs of varying length, diameter andcoil pitch have been synthesized. Carbonnanocoil coated carbon fibre reinforcedcomposites shall be useful for structuralapplications.

NANO MISSION OF INDIA

The Government of India, in May 2007,approved the launch of a Mission on NanoScience and Technology (Nano Mission) with anallocation of Rs. 1000 crore for 5 years. TheDepartment of Science and Technology is thenodal agency for implementing the NanoMission. Capacity-building in this upcoming areaof research will be of utmost importance for theNano Mission so that India emerges as a globalknowledge-hub in this field. For this, researchon fundamental aspects of Nano Science andtraining of large number of manpower willreceive prime attention. In addition, the NanoMission will strive for development of productsand processes for national development,especially in areas of national relevance like safedrinking water, materials development, sensorsdevelopment, drug delivery, etc. For this, it willforge linkages between educational and researchinstitutions and industry and promote PublicPrivate Partnerships.

The Nano Mission has been structured in asuch fashion so as to achieve synergy betweenthe national research efforts of various agenciesin Nano Science and Technology and launchnew programmes in a concerted fashion.International collaborative research efforts willalso be made wherever required.

Objectives

The Nano Mission is an umbrella programmefor capacity building which envisages the overall

development of this field of research in thecountry and to tap some of its applied potentialfor nation’s development. The main objectivesof the Nano Mission are -basic researchpromotion, infrastructure development forcarrying out front-ranking research,development of nano technologies and theirapplications, human resource development andinternational collaborations. During the year2012-13, Nano Mission continued to recordexpansion in its activities and break newgrounds in promotion of R&D and humanresource development in the field ofnanotechnology. In brief, the objectives of theNano-Mission are:

� Basic Research Promotion: Funding ofbasic research by individual scientistsand/or groups of scientists and creationof centres of excellence for pursuingstudies leading to fundamentalunderstanding of matter that enablescontrol and manipulation at thenanoscale.

� Infrastructure Development for NanoScience & Technology Research:Investigations on the nano scale requireexpensive equipments like OpticalTweezer, Nano Indentor, TransmissionElectron Microscope (TEM), Atomic ForceMicroscope (AFM), Scanning TunnelingMicroscope (STM), Matrix Assisted LaserDesorption Time of Flight MassSpectrometer (MALDI TOF MS),Microarray Spotter & Scanner etc. Foroptimal use of expensive and sophisticatedfacilities, it is proposed to establish a chainof shared facilities across the country.

� Nano Applications and TechnologyDevelopment Programmes: To catalyzeApplications and Technology Deve-lopment Programmes leading to productsand devices, the Mission proposes topromote application-oriented R&DProjects, establish Nano Applications andTechnology Development Centres, Nano-Technology Business Incubators, etc.Special effort will be made to involve theindustrial sector into nanotechnologyR&D directly or through Public PrivatePartnership (PPP) ventures.

� Human Resource Development: The


Mission shall focus on providing effectiveeducation and training to researchers andprofessionals in diversified fields so that agenuine interdisciplinary culture fornanoscale science, engineering andtechnology can emerge. It is planned tolaunch M.Sc./M.Tech. programmes,create national and overseas post-doctoralfellowships, chairs in universities, etc.

� International Collaborations: Apart fromexploratory visits of scientists, organizationof joint workshops and conferences andjoint research projects, it is also plannedto facilitate access to sophisticated researchfacilities abroad, establish joint centres ofexcellence and forge academia-industrypartnerships at the international levelwherever required and desirable.

Organizational Structure

The Nano Mission is a Mission-Modeprogramme within DST. At the apex level, it issteered by a Nano Mission Council (NMC). It iscurrently being chaired by Professor CNR Rao.The technical programmes of the Nano Missionare also being guided by two advisory groups,viz. the Nano Science Advisory Group (NSAG)and the Nano Applications and TechnologyAdvisory Group (NATAG).

DST Activities in Nano Science andTechnology: The Nano Mission is the secondphase of DST activities in Nano Science andTechnology. DST, in October 2001, hadlaunched a modest programme in Nano Scienceand Technology, called the Nano Science andTechnology Initiative (NSTI), and the NanoMission is the successor of this programme.

Under NSTI, and since May 2007 under theNano Mission, DST has supported a number ofactivities in Nano Science and Technology. Abrief resume of those programmes is being givenbelow:

(i) Support for R & D Projects to IndividualScientists: Around 130 projects have beensupported for individual scientists mainlyworking on fundamental scientific aspectsof nanoscale systems. Investigations areaimed at looking into new and improvedunderstanding of the relationship betweenstructure of various nanoscale systems andtheir properties using sophisticatedcharacterization facilities.

Significant results have been reported fromthese projects. Extensive studies onsemiconductor nanocrystals have beenundertaken in several projects. As semiconductorparticles exhibit size-dependent properties likescaling of the energy gap and correspondingchange in the optical properties, they areconsidered as technologically importantmaterials. Several projects have looked intosynthesis of important nanomaterials like CdSe,ZnO etc. Size-tunable, organic-solubleindustrially important CdS, AlN, GaN and InNnanocrystals have been prepared by employingnovel solvothermal techniques and some softchemical routes. In another project, it has beenreported that flow of various liquids and gasesover a mat of single-walled carbon nanotube(SWNT) bundles generate electrical signals. Thisdiscovery has several important technologicalimplications. It may have several applicationsin the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticalindustry, drug delivery, intelligent pneumaticsystems, information technology etc.

(ii) Strengthening of CharacterizationFacilities: Research with nanoscalesystems requires sophisticatedcharacterization facilities which were notavailable in our institutions. Realizing thisgap, DST has established an array ofsophisticated equipments such as OpticalTweezer, Nano Indentor, TransmissionElectron Microscope (TEM), Atomic ForceMicroscope (AFM), Scanning TunnelingMicroscope (STM), Matrix Assisted LaserDesorption Time of Flight MassSpectrometer (MALDI TOF MS),Microarray Spotter & Scanner etc. atvarious locations in the country.

(iii) Establishment of Centres of Excellence:Eleven Units/Core Groups on NanoScience have been sanctioned across thecountry. These centres of excellence housesome of the more sophisticated facilitiesfor sharing with other scientists in theregion and would help in promotingscientific research on nanoscale systemsin a decentralized fashion.

Seven Centres for Nano Technology focusingon development of specific applications havealso been established. In addition, a centre ofexcellence on Computational Materials Sciencehas also been established at JNCASR, Bangalore.


(iv) International Collaborative Programmes:As expected, Nano Science andTechnology has prominently figured in allS&T cooperation agreements entered intoin recent times. Joint R&D activities arealready taking place with severalcountries. For example, with the US,several projects have been funded onCNTs in composites, nano-encapsulatingmaterials, etc. under the DST-NSFprogramme. Several Indo-US Workshopshave also been held. With Germany, aprogramme on engineered functionalnano-composites has started which wouldfocus on magnetic properties, magneticinteractions, gas-solid interactionsincluding catalysis, etc. Programmes arealso on with Italy, EU and developingwith Taiwan. ARCI, Hyderabad, whichis an autonomous institute of DST hasactive programme in nano-material withinstitutions in Russia, Ukraine, Japan,Germany and USA.

(v) Joint Institution-Industry LinkedProjects and Public Private Partnershipactivities: In order to focus the existingexpertise in research and educationalinstitutions towards developing productsand processes of direct interest toindustries, DST, under the NanoProgramme, has promoted JointInstitution-Industry Linked Projects andsome other Public Private Partnershipactivities in recent times. In many of theseactivities, the industrial partners have alsoinvested financially in the project. Theseactivities will help us to simultaneouslyleverage the scientific knowledge-baseexisting in our research and educationalinstitutions and the commercial vision ofour industry to generate competitivetechnologies leading to products anddevices. Six such projects have receivedfinancial support so far.

(vi) Human Resource Development in NanoScience & Technology: In order to trainand nurture human resource in the areaof Nano Science and Technology, anumber of activities have already beenundertaken; for example, organization ofnational and international conferences,national review meetings and advanced

schools, support for post-doctoral fellow-ships through JNCASR, Bangalore, etc.

THE FUTURE SCOPE OFNANOTECHNOLOGY

1. Creating better Computing Devices:Perhaps more than anywhere else, thepromise of nanotechnology is causingexcitement in the computer chip andmemory business for very good reasons:it would enable computer designers tobreak through the Moore’s law. Intel co-founder Dr Gordon Moore predicted thattechnology that went into integratedcircuits would roughly double in powerevery 12-18 months. That is why the latestPentium 4 chip clocking 2.4 gigahertz, isabout 25,000 times faster and packs25,000 as many transistors on board asthe first ever microchip, the Intel 4004 of1971. Physicists say: it will take at least10 years at the most before we are able todream up a bigger, better, microchip onthat slab of silicon. And that is wherenano-technology comes in: the ability tofashion electronic circuits-entirecomputers-with atom-length nanowires ornanotubes, made from carbon rather thansilicon, may allow computer hardware toprogress beyond physical barriers ofMoore’s Law.

2. Nano Biology: The demand forenvironmentally sustainable industrial,agricultural, aquacultural, and silvi-cultural technologies is bringing about ashift from chemical-based solutions tobiological based ones.

3. Nano Medicine: Nanotechnology wouldbuild fleets of computer- controlledmolecular tools (called nanobots or cellmachines) much smaller than a humancell and built with the accuracy andprecision of drug molecules. If you get acold or have contracted AIDS, you’d justdrink a teaspoon of liquid that containedan army of molecule-sized nanobotsprogrammed to enter your body’s cellsand fight viruses.

4. Nanotechnology and Ecology:Nanotechnology has the potential of


making our environment cleaner. Forinstance, if you make plastic withnanotechnology, you can feed stocks ofpure elements like carbon, hydrogen, andoxygen and force individual atomsdeliberately into chemical bonds withoutintermediate steps that produce all thoseenvironmentally unfriendly wasteproducts.

5. Nanotechnology in Agriculture: Withnanotechnology, growing food crops tofeed the hungry and starving would nolonger be a problem. Higher crop yieldscould be achieved by intensive greenhouseagriculture. Plants grown in controlledenvironments (with optimal temperature,CO2, water, nutrients, etc) can grow yearround and produce an order of magnitudemore food per acre than the existingmethods.

6. Nanotechnology and Use of NaturalResources: Rather than felling forests tomake paper, we’d have assemblerssynthesizing paper. Rather than using oilfor energy, we’d have molecule-sized solarcells mixed into road pavement. With suchsolar nanocells, a sunny patch ofpavement of a few hundred square milescould generate enough energy for acountry of the size of India.

7. Nano Economy: Nanotechnology willfundamentally revolutionize mostindustries. Assemblers will be able to buildcopies of themselves quickly, usinginexpensive materials, little energy, andno human labour, a single assembler canbe used to make billions.

8. Nanoweapons: The weapons of thenanogeneration will not only be muchsmaller than today’s, but much deadlier.Distributed surveillance systems couldquickly identify arms buildups andoffensive weapons deployments, whilelighter, stronger, and smarter materialscontrolled by powerful molecularcomputers would let us make radicallyimproved versions of existing weapons.

9. Nanotechnology in Space Science: Spacetransportation costs could be reducedconsiderably with nanotechnology.Comparing structural components made

from titanium versus a diamondoidcomposite material, it is estimated thatsingle stage to orbit transportation costswould drop (in one scenario) from $16,000/ kg to $3.54 / kg.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Bio-Nanotechnology

The biological and medical research scientistshave exploited the unique properties of nano-materials for various applications e.g., contrastagents for cell imaging and therapeutics fortreating cancer. Biological tests measuring thepresence or activity of selected substances becomequicker, more sensitive and more flexible whencertain nanoscale particles are put to work astags or labels. Magnetic nano-particles, boundto a suitable antibody, are used to label specificmolecules, structures or microorganisms. Forexample, gold nano-particles tagged with shortsegments of DNA can be used for detection ofgenetic sequence in a sample.

The overall drug consumption and side-effects can be lowered significantly by depositingthe active agent in the morbid region only andin no higher dose than needed. This highlyselective approach reduces costs and humansufferings. They could hold small drug moleculestransporting them to the desired location. Somepotentially important applications includecancer treatment with iron nano-particles or goldshells.

Nanotechnology can help to reproduce or torepair damaged tissue. This so called “tissueengineering” makes use of artificially stimulatedcell proliferation by using suitable nanomaterial-based scaffolds and growth factors. Tissueengineering might replace today’s conventionaltreatments, e.g. transplantation of organs orartificial implants.

Chemistry & Environment

Chemical catalysis and filtration techniquesare two prominent examples wherenanotechnology already plays a role. Thesynthesis provides novel materials with tailoredfeatures and chemical properties e.g. nano-particles with a distinct chemical surroundingor specific optical properties. Chemical catalysisbenefits especially from nano-particles, due to


the extremely large surface of volume ratio. Theapplication potential of nano-particles incatalysis ranges from fuel cell to catalyticconverters and photocatalytic devices. Catalysisis also important for the production of chemicals.A strong influence of nano-chemistry on waste-water treatment, air purification and energystorage devices is to be expected. Mechanical orchemical methods can be used for effectivefiltration techniques. Nano-porous membranesare suitable for a mechanical filtration withextremely small pores smaller than 10 nm.Nanofiltration is mainly used for the removal ofions or the separation of different fluids.

Energy

The most advanced nanotechnology projectsrelated to energy are: storage, conversion,manufacturing improvements by reducingmaterials and process rates, energy saving e.g.by better thermal insulation, and enhancedrenewable energy sources. Nanotechnology canhelp to increase the efficiency of Solar lightconversion by specifically designednanostructures. The degree of efficiency ofcombustion engines is not higher than 15-20 percent at the moment. Nanotechnology canimprove combustion by designing specificcatalysts with maximized surface area.

The most prominent nanostructured materialin fuel cells is the catalyst consisting of carbonsupported noble metal particles with diametersof 1- 5 nm. Suitable materials for hydrogenstorage contain a large number of smallnanosized pores. Many nanostructuredmaterials like nanotubes, zeolites or alanates areunder investigation. Nanotechnology cancontribute to the further reduction of combustionengine pollutants by nanoporous filters, whichcan clean the exhaust mechanically, by catalyticconverters based on nanoscale noble metalparticles or by catalytic coatings on cylinderwalls and catalytic nano-particles as additivesfor fuels.

Information & Communication

Current high-technology productionprocesses are based on traditional top downstrategies, where nanotechnology has alreadybeen introduced silently. The critical length scaleof integrated circuits is already at the nanoscale(50 nm and below) regarding the gate length oftransistors in CPUs or DRAM devices. In themodern communication technology, traditionalanalog electrical devices are increasinglyreplaced by optical or optoelectronic devices dueto their enormous bandwidth and capacity,respectively. Two promising examples arephotonic crystals and quantum dots.

Consumer Goods

Nanotechnology is already impacting thefield of consumer goods, providing products withnovel functions ranging from easy-to-clean toscratch-resistant. Already in use are differentnano-particle improved products. Nano-technology can be applied in the production,processing, safety and packaging of food. Ananocomposite coating process could improvefood packaging by placing anti-microbial agentsdirectly on the surface of the coated film.Nanocomposites could increase or decrease gaspermeability of different fillers as is needed fordifferent products. They can also improve themechanical and heat-resistance properties andlower the oxygen transmission rate.

The first sunglasses using protective andantireflective ultrathin polymer coatings are inthe market. For optics, nanotechnology also offersscratch resistant coatings based onnanocomposites. The use of nanofibres makesclothes water and stain-repellent or wrinkle-free.Textiles with a nanotechnological finish can bewashed less frequently and at lowertemperatures. Nanotechnology has been used tointegrate tiny carbon particles membrane &guarantee full-surface protection fromelectrostatic charges for the wearer.

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be coal- or lignite-fired, and only 3.4 GWenuclear, including two imported 1000 MWe unitsplanned at one site and two indigenous 700MWe units at another. By 2032 total installedcapacity of 700 GWe is planned to meet 7-9 percent GDP growth, and this was to include 63GWe nuclear. The OECD’s International EnergyAgency predicts that India will need some $1600billion investment in power generation,transmission and distribution to 2035.

India has a vision of becoming a world leaderin nuclear technology due to its expertise in fastreactors and thorium fuel cycle. Per capita powerconsumption in India is around 400 Kwh/yr,which is much below the world averageconsumption of 2400 Kwh/yr. Thus, massiveincrease in the power generation to match theworld average consumption is needed in thecoming years to enhance the overall nationalgrowth rate. The estimated coal deposits in Indiais 206 billion tonnes (6% of the world coalreserves) and the distribution of conventionalenergy sources in India is:

Coal & Lignite – 68%

Natural gases - 12%

Petroleum – 12 %

This is far from adequate to meet theincreasing future energy demands. Moreover thehigh sulphur and ash content in Indian coalcreates environmental and ecological problems.Hydel power generation capacity is limited anddepends on erratic monsoon.

India has consciously proceeded to explorethe possibility of tapping nuclear energy for thepurpose of power generation and the AtomicEnergy Act was framed and implemented withthe set objectives of using two naturallyoccurring elements Uranium and Thoriumhaving good potential to be utilized as nuclearfuel in Indian Nuclear Power Reactors. Theestimated natural deposits of these elements inIndia are:

� Natural Uranium deposits - 70,000 tonnes

� Thorium deposits - 3,60,000 tonnes

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL) is a Public Sector Enterprise under theadministrative control of the Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE), Government of India. TheCompany was registered as a Public Limited

Company under the Companies Act, 1956 inSeptember 1987 with the objective of operatingthe atomic power stations and implementing theatomic power projects for generation ofelectricity in pursuance of the schemes andprogrammes of the Government of India underthe Atomic Energy Act, 1962.

NPCIL is a MOU signing Company withDAE. Presently NPCIL is operating twentynuclear power plants with total installedcapacity of 4780 MWe. NPCIL has achievedmore than 379 reactor years of safe nuclearpower plant operating experience. NPCILoperates plants with motto ‘Safety first andProduction next’. The reactor fleet comprises twoBoiling Water Reactors (BWRs) and eighteenPressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs)including one 100 MW PHWR at Rajasthanwhich is owned by DAE, Government of India.Currently it has six reactors under various stagesof construction totaling 4800 MW capacity outof which one reactor of 1000 MW capacity atKudankulam, Tamil Nadu, has attainedcriticality on July 13, 2013.

The target since about 2004 has been fornuclear power to provide 20 GWe by 2020, butin 2007 the Prime Minister referred to this as"modest" and capable of being doubled with theopening up of International cooperation.However, it is evident that even the 20 GWetarget would require substantial uraniumimports. In June 2009, NPCIL said it aimed for60 GWe nuclear by 2032, including 40 GWe ofPWR capacity and 7 GWe of new PHWRcapacity, all fuelled by imported uranium. This2032 target was reiterated late in 2010 andincreased to 63 GWe in 2011. But in December2011 Parliament was told that more realistictargets were 14,600 MWe by 2020-21 and 27,500MWe by 2032, relative to present 4780 MWe and10,080 MWe when reactors under constructionwere on line in 2017.

The XII Plan envisages start of work on eightindigenous 700 MW Pressurised Heavy WaterReactors (PHWRs), two 500 MW Fast BreederReactors (FBRs), one 300 MW Advanced HeavyWater Reactor (AHWR) and eight Light WaterReactors of 1000 MW or higher capacity withforeign technical cooperation. These nuclearpower reactors are expected to be completedprogressively in the XIII and XIV Plans. The

[18] Chronicle IAS Academy

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power generation increased by 23 percentduring the year 2011-12, 32455 Million KWh asagainst 26472 Million KWh during the year2010-11. The net export increased by 24 percentduring the year 2011-12, 29123 Million KWh asagainst 23533 Million KWh during the year2010-11.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd(NPCIL) is responsible for design, construction,commissioning and operation of thermal nuclearpower plants. Its funding model is 70% equityand 30% debt financing. However, it is aimingto involve other public sector and privatecorporations in future nuclear power expansion,notably National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC). NTPC is largely government-owned,and the 1962 Atomic Energy Act prohibitsprivate control of nuclear power generation.

The two Tarapur 160 MWe Boiling WaterReactors (BWRs) built by GE on a turnkeycontract before the advent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty were originally 200 MWe.They were down-rated due to recurrentproblems but have run well since. They have beenusing imported enriched uranium and are underInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)safeguards. However, late in 2004 Russiadeferred to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group anddeclined to supply further uranium for them.They underwent six months refurbishment over2005-06, and in March 2006 Russia agreed toresume fuel supply. In December 2008 a $700million contract with Rosatom was announcedfor continued uranium supply to them.

The two small Canadian (Candu) PHWRsat Rajasthan nuclear power plant started up in1972 and 1980, and are also under safeguards.Rajasthan-1 was down-rated early in its life andhas operated very little since 2002 due to ongoingproblems and has been shut down since 2004 asthe government considers its future. Rajasthan-2 was restarted in September 2009 after majorrefurbishment, and running on importeduranium at full rated power.

The 220 MWe PHWRs (202 MWe net) wereindigenously designed and constructed byNPCIL, based on a Canadian design. TheKalpakkam (MAPS) reactors were refurbishedin 2002-03 and 2004-05 and their capacityrestored to 220 MWe gross (from 170). Much ofthe core of each reactor was replaced, and the

lifespans extended to 2033/36. Kakrapar unit 1was repaired and upgraded in 2009, as wasNarora-2.

Following the Fukushima accident in March2011, four NPCIL taskforces evaluated thesituation in India and in an interim report in Julymade recommendations for safety improvementsof the Tarapur BWRs and each PHWR type. Thereport of a high-level committee appointed bythe Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)was submitted at the end of August 2011, sayingthat the Tarapur and Madras plants neededsome supplementary provisions to cope withmajor disasters. The two Tarapur BWRs havealready been upgraded to ensure continuouscooling of the reactor during prolonged stationblackouts and to provide nitrogen injection tocontainment structures, but further work isrecommended. Madras needs enhanced flooddefences in case of tsunamis higher than that in2004. The prototype fast breeder reactor (PFR)under construction next door at Kalpakkam hasdefences which are already sufficiently high,following some flooding of the site in 2004.

NUCLEAR PROGRAMME

The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR), which came up in 1945, provided the baseand the structure for organising the early effortsfor India’s nuclear energy programme. Hence,it is also referred to as the ‘cradle of Indiannuclear power programme.’

The horrors of the nuclear holocaustunleashed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki werefollowed by a new vista of atoms for peace, ofnuclear power generation, transformations inagriculture and medical diagnostics and therapyfor using atomic Science & Technology. It’s inthis context that in April 1948, the AtomicEnergy Bill was enacted with the primaryobjective to develop, control and use atomicenergy for peaceful purposes, a clear departurefrom the policy followed by the nuclear powers,often forgotten or ignored by the internationalcommunity. India under the leadership ofJawaharlal Nehru was dedicated to the peacefuluses of atomic energy but it couldn’t wish awaythe lurking threat posed by nuclear weapons,and so per force Indian option for nuclearweapons was kept open. For both areas peacefulapplications and the weapon option, Dr. Homi


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Bhabha, the architect of India’s nuclearprogramme, had a clear strategic vision andpriorities.

Subsequently, India’s Atomic EnergyCommission was set up on 10 August, 1948under the Chairmanship of Dr. Bhabha with thesole objective of formulation and implementationof the governmental policy relating to thedevelopment of nuclear power in India. In fact,India was among the first eight countries of theworld to have an Atomic Energy Commission.The next step was the establishment of theDepartment of Atomic Energy (DAE) withBhabha as its Secretary in August 1954, theobjectives of which, inter alia included:

(i) Proper use of the latest technologies forthe development of nuclear power.

(ii) To ensure nuclear power generationagainst global economic competition byexploiting natural resources.

(iii) Establishment of nuclear power reactorsand safe use of radioactive substances.

(iv) Production of nuclear power for meetingthe defence requirements of India.

(v) To understand the role of nuclear powerin economic development.

(vi) To carry out programmes on isotopes andradiation technology.

(vii) To support basic research in nuclearenergy and other frontier areas of science.

Thus, India directed its nuclear powerprogramme for attaining self -reliance on a broadfront which comprised mineral exploration andmining, extraction of uranium and zirconium,designing and fabricating reactor controlsystems, production of heavy water, makingradio isotopes and promoting their use inagriculture, medicine, etc., safety of nuclearpower reactors and monitoring the radiation levelfor ensuring a safe limit.

Key milestones of Nuclear Programme:

� Tarapur units 3&4, at Tarapur inMaharashtra, are the largest in India witha capacity of 540 MW for each unit.

� Rajasthan Atomic Power Station,Rawatbhata in Rajasthan, is India’s firstnuclear park.

� Narora Atomic Power Station is Asia’s

first nuclear power plant to obtain ISO-14001 accreditation for its environmentmanagement system.

� Kakrapar Atomic Power Station was thefirst Indian nuclear power plant toundergo a peer review by an internationalteam of experts from the WorldAssociation of Nuclear Operators(WANO). All other Indian nuclear powerstations are also peer reviewed by WANO.

N-POWER POLICY OF INDIA

In the beginning of the Eighth Plan, it wasaimed to produce 10,000 MW of power by 2000,to increase the nuclear power share in totalpower production. In order to achieve the aboveobjective, the Central Government establishedNuclear Power Corporation to coordinatevarious nuclear power organisations, in 1989.But, it was unlikely to achieve this objective,particularly after the disintegration of USSR, andthen the target was reduced to 9000 MW.However, still it was not possible in the nearfuture. Indian scientists have planned to achievethe above target in future through thedevelopment of three generations of nuclearreactors:

(a) 1st Generation Nuclear Reactors: Theseare the pressurized Heavy Water reactorswith the capacity of 235 HW each anduse natural uranium as fuel. Plutonium isthe by-product.

(b) 2nd Generation Nuclear Reactors: Theseare planned to be the fast breeder reactorswith the capacity of 500 HW each, anduse Plutonium, a by-product of the firstgeneration reactors, as the fuel.

(c) 3rd Generation Nuclear Reactors: Theseare also planned to be the fast breederreactors. This generation reactors will usefuel derived from second generationreactors and convert more Thorium intoUranium-233. So, the plan is to use vastThorium deposits found in India.

India has established 1st generation nuclearreactors at Tarapur, Kalpakkam, Narora andRawatbhata. Other two reactors of this gradeare located at Kakrapar (Gujarat) and Kaiga(Karnataka). The first generation reactors have


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reached commercial stage. The generation ofpower from nuclear energy began in India in1969 with the commissioning of first atomicpower station at Tarapore (TAPS).

The second generation reactor hascommenced with the successful operation of theFast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) namedKAMINI (Kalpakkam Mini Reactor) in 1985 atthe Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research(IGCAR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu.

The Kalpakkam reactor is the world’s firstfast-breeder reactor. The reactor has successfullyused the mixed uranium - plutonium carbidefuel, hitherto untried elsewhere. Progress hasalso been made in the third generation reactorwith the successful development of a U-233based fuel. Work has commenced on the designof an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor whichwill make the use of thorium in powergeneration.

Chief Features of FBTR

(i) The nuclear chain reaction in the uraniumfuel in a thermal reactor is sustained byslowing down the neutrons by amoderator. The chain reaction in FBTR issustained by fast neutrons. The numberof neutrons released per fission is morecompared to that of thermal reactor. Theextra neutrons are available for absorptionin uranium-238 to transform it to fissileplutonium-239.

(ii) In a thermal reactor typically only about1-2 per cent of the natural uranium isutilized whereas in FBTRs, the utilizationis increased 60 to 70 times.

(iii) Considering the nuclear and heat transferproperties of various possible coolants,Sodium has been universally accepted asthe coolant for FBTRs. In Thermal reactorswater is used as a coolant.

(iv) The radioactivity released to theatmosphere and the radiation dosereceived by the operating personnel inFBTRs has been much less compared tothe water control reactors.

(v) FBTR is based on the design of theRhapsodic reactor, France.

(vi) The fuel used to FBTR is mixed carbide ofplutonium and natural uranium. Thecarbide fuel has higher breeding ratio due

to its higher density and thermalconductivity.

Why India Prefers Fast Breeders : A fastbreeder reactor (FBR) breeds more fuel than itconsumes that is it produces more plutonium thanit consumes while generating power. For auranium scarce country like India, it is anattractive technology. Plutonium produced inthe thermal reactors as spent fuel is ideallysuitable as the fuel material for use in the FBRdue to its high fission neutron yield. Since thenumber of neutrons produced in plutoniumfission is high, it helps to produce moreplutonium from uranium (U-238) used as ablanket surrounding the fuel core of the FBR. FBRalso consumes less uranium and that too veryeffectively. While the thermal reactors exploitonly 0.6 per cent of uranium, a FBR utilises 70-75 per cent of it. Thus, it leaves less radioactivewaste to dispose of. In fact, many scientists inIndia prefer FBRs for this reason.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The Atomic Energy Commission, set up in1948, is responsible for formulating the policyfor all atomic energy activities in the country.The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is theexecutive agency for implementing the atomicenergy programme. There are three public sectorundertakings under the administrative controlof DAE:

1. Indian Rare Earth’s Limited (IREL) whichhas set up the Orissa Sands Complex(OSCOM) at Chhattarpur for enhancingRare Earth’s production,

2. Uranium Corporation of India Limited(UCIL) with mines at Jaduguda inJharkhand, and

3. Electronics Corporation of India Limited(ECIL) which manufactures electronicinstruments and equipment for nuclear aswell as non-nuclear users.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of DAE isresponsible for design, construction andoperation of nuclear power stations. Presently,Nuclear Power Corporation is operating 20nuclear power reactors, including 18 PHWRsand 2 Boiling Water Reactors (BWR), with aninstalled capacity of 4,780 MW; six nuclearpower reactors with an aggregate capacity of


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4,800 MW are under different stages ofconstruction. The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC)at Hyderabad fabricates nuclear fuel for thepower reactors. NPCIL indigenously scaling upthe capacity of PHWRs from 220 MW to 700 MWand attaining and sustaining over 90%availability factor. NPCIL Power Stations are:

� Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS)

� Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS)

� Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS)

� Kaiga Generating Station

� Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS)

� Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS)

There are three research reactors in operationat the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre atTrombay. These are: APSARA (one MWswimming pool reactor), CIRUS (40 MW thermalreactor) and DHRUVA (100 MW thermalreactor). A mini pool 30 KW reactor KAMINI,containing Uranium -233 fuel is in an advancedstage of construction at Kalpakkam. Plutonium-fuelled fast reactor PURNIMA-I was built atTrombay in 1972. Later in 1984, it was modifiedas a homogenous reactor PURNIMA-II whichuses Uranium-233 fuel in the form of a solution.PURNIMA-III is the modified form ofPURNIMA-II to test the KAMINI core.PURNIMA-III is a zero-energy reactor and is theworld’s first experimental research reactor to useUranium-233 as fuel.

The Indira Gandhi Centre for AtomicResearch (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam carries outresearch and development pertaining to latestreactor technology. The major facility at thecentre is the indigenously constructed 40 MWand 13 MW Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR).The FBTR is a major step in the country’s nuclearpower programme. It has paved the way forusing our vast thorium resources. The Centre forAdvanced Technology was set up in 1984 atIndore to spearhead research in high technologyfields such as fusion, lasers and accelerators. Thecountry’s first heavy ion accelerator of mediumenergy capacity called, ‘Pelletron’ has becomefully operational at the TIFR. Pelletron is basedon a tandem Van De Graff accelerator with 14million volts terminal voltage.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board(AERB), set up in 1985, carries out regulatoryand safety functions as envisaged under the

Atomic Energy Act-1962. It lays down safetystandards, and frames rules and regulations inregard to regulatory and safety requirements.

The Fast Breeder Test Reactor with a designcapacity of 40 MW thermal and 13 MW electricalpower, attained its first criticality on October 18,1985 at the Indira Gandhi Centre for AtomicResearch (IGCAR), Kalpakkam. The fuel usedin FBTR is a mixed carbide of plutonium andnatural uranium, the proportion of the latterbeing 30 per cent. Such a composition is beingused for the first time in the world. Thetechnology for the fabrication of the fuel wasdeveloped at the Radio-metallurgy Division ofBARC. The next step after FBTR is to design andconstruct a Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor(PFBR) of 500 MW capacity. The 500 MW sizeof reactor has been selected to match the size ofcoal fired thermal power stations and PHWRs.The PFBR will be cooked by sodium as in thecase of FBTR, but it will use the pool-type conceptwhich is more favoured in recent times due tobetter safety and more operating experience.

RESEARCH CENTRES

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),Trombay, Mumbai, is the country’s premiernuclear research facility. BARC is a multi-disciplinary research centre with extensiveinfrastructure for advanced research anddevelopment covering the entire spectrum ofnuclear science, engineering and related areas.BARC's core mandate is to sustain peacefulapplications of nuclear energy, primarily forpower generation.

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR), Mumbai, is a national centre foradvanced research in nuclear physics,mathematics and high - energy physics andastrophysics.

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research(IGCAR) is a multi-disciplinary R & D centremainly concerned with FBR technology andassociated fuel cycle, material sciences, fuelreprocessing and sodium technology. IGCAR hasdeveloped several relatively cheap and highlysensitive electrochemical sensors to continuouslymonitor the purity of liquid sodium used ascoolant in FBR. As a next step, design of 500MWe proto-type has been completed and thesame is undergoing review.


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Centre for Advanced Technology (CAT),established in Indore in 1984, focuses its researchon lasers, accelerators, high vacuum technologyand cryogenics. It has set up two synchrotronRadiation Sources (INDUS - 1 & INDUS -2) anddeveloped versatile lasers such as 70 W and 400W carbon dioxide lasers for industrial, medicaland research applications. The Variable EnergyCyclotron Centre (VECC) at Kolkata is a nationalfacility for advanced research in nuclear physics,nuclear chemistry, production of novel medicalisotopes and study of radiation damage in reactormaterials. The Seismic Activity MonitoringStation at Gauribidanur near Bengaluru helpsin detection and identification of undergroundnuclear explosions anywhere in the world.

Raja Ramanna Centre for AdvancedTechnology (RRCAT) was established in May,1984 by the Department of Atomic Energy, Indiato expand the activities carried out at BhabhaAtomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, intwo frontline areas of science and technologynamely Lasers and Accelerators. Since then, thecentre has rapidly grown into a premier institutefor research and development in lasers,accelerators and their applications.

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC)is a premier R & D unit of the Department ofAtomic Energy, Government of India and oneof the constituent institutions of Homi BhabhaNational Institute. This Centre is dedicated tocarry out frontier research and development inthe fields of Accelerator Science & Technology,Nuclear Science (Theoretical and Experimental),Material Science, Computer Science &Technology and in other relevant areas.

Atomic Minerals Directorate for Explo-ration and Research’s prime mandate is toidentify and evaluate uranium resourcesrequired for the successful implementation ofAtomic Energy programme of the country. Forimplementing this important task investigationsare taken up across the length and breadth ofthe country from Regional Exploration &Research Centres located at New Delhi ,Bengaluru, Jamshedpur, Shillong, Jaipur,Nagpur and Hyderabad (Headquarter & SouthCentral Region).

INDIAN RESEARCH REACTORS

There are seven Research Reactors workingin the country named as: Apsara, Cirus, Kamini,

Purnima I, Purnima II, Purnima III and Zerlina.India’s first research reactor, APSARA, a 1 MWe‘swimming pool’ type, built indigenously,became operational at Trombay in 1956,heralding a novel nuclear age in Asia. ZERLINA,a zero energy tank type research reactor was builtindigenously in 1961. CIRUS, a tank type reactorof 40 MWe was commissioned at Tarapur in1960 with the assistance of Canada, forengineering experimental work with facilities formaterials testing and radioisotope production.Moreover, with the commissioning of PURNIMAI & PURNIMA II respectively in 1972 and 1984,India achieved an important milestone in its ‘fastreactor’ programme. DHRUVA, an indigenoustank type 100 MWe reactor went into operationin 1985 for research in advanced nuclear physicsand for isotope production. PURNIMA III, alsoa tank type reactor of 1 MWe attained criticalityon 9 November, 1990. The sole objective of thisreactor is to conduct mock up studies for Kaminireactor.

The construction of KAMINI (KalpakkamMini Reactor) in 1996 marks an important landmark in India’s endeavour at mastering uranium-233-based nuclear fuel. Designed on the basisof Rapsody reactor of France, it is the onlyreactor in the world which uses U-233 as fuel. Itwill be mainly used to study the highlyradioactive fuel elements which are dischargedfrom FBTR at Kalpakkam. This will help in thedevelopment of high performance plutoniumfuel elements for the proto-type FBR to be builtin the next century. It is also called the ‘Zero -Power’ reactor as the amount of electricityproduced (40 MWe) is consumed by the reactoritself for research purposes. The design for India’snext generation of reactors, called AdvancedHeavy Water Reactors (AHWRs), which willemploy thorium-based fuel, has already beenprepared.

BARC has developed comprehensivetechnology for industrial operations in fuelreprocessing and waste management.Reprocessing plants are operational in Trombayand Tarapur. The first fuel reprocessing plant atTrombay is based on hot - cell technology. Acomprehensive waste management technologyfor handling and safe disposal of all types ofwaste, generated in nuclear industries, has beenperfected by the centre. It has also undertakenthe recent studies of high-energy-density systems.


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BARC has been able to develop a plasma - basedaerosol generator and also achieved plasmacoatings of alumina on carbon steel moulds.Moreover, BARC has also been working on thepulsed electron beam system and has developedKilo Ampere Linear Injector (KALI - 5000) whichfinds applications in high power microwavegeneration and pulsed intense neutron source.

BARC has undertaken an extensiveprogramme on laser cooling and trapping ofatoms. Very recently, it has been able to developthe atom laser, which uses coherent beam ofmassive bosons. The objectives of this programmeare two-fold: first, to study the ultra-highresolution spectrospectry for fundamentalphysics experiments and second, experimentsleading to Bose - Einstein condensation.Following the global interest in fabricating hightemperature superconducting materials, BARChas succeeded in synthesising a single phasesuperconducting compound of bismuth-lead-calcium-strontium and copper oxide with atemperature equivalent to 120K.

India’s tokamak, Aditya, was installed in1989 at the Institute of Plasma Research inGandhinagar, Ahmedabad. It is an indigenouseffort, which can generate plasma at 5 milliondegree Celsius. The discoveries made by Adityain plasma research and edge turbulence havehad an impact on the world fusion researchprogramme.

BHAVINI

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) inits Golden Jubilee Year has set up its fifth publicsector unit -Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut NigamLimited (BHAVINI). BHAVINI is a whollyowned Enterprise of Government of India underthe administrative control of the Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE) incorporated on 22ndOctober 2003 as Public Limited Company. Itwas incorporated under the Companies Act1956, with an authorized share capital of Rs.5000 crore, BHAVINI is responsible for theconstruction and commissioning of the country’sfirst 500 MWe Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) projectat Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu and to pursueconstruction, commissioning, operation andmaintenance of subsequent Fast Breeder Reactorsfor generation of electricity in pursuance of theschemes and programmes of Government of

India under the provisions of the Atomic EnergyAct,1962. It is a forerunner of commercial fastbreeder power reactors in the country and in thisregard, it marks a major step in the country’sefforts to ensuring energy security through theuse of atomic energy.

BHAVINI is currently constructing a500MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)at Kalpakkam. The PFBR is the forerunner of thefuture Fast Breeder Reactors and is expected toprovide energy security to the country. The PFBRis being built with the design and technologydeveloped at the Indira Gandhi Centre forAtomic Research (IGCAR) located atKalpakkam. The four other PSUs under theDepartment are Nuclear Power Corporation ofIndia Ltd. (NPCIL), Electronics Corporation ofIndia Ltd. (ECIL), Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL)and Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. (UCIL).

The engineering design and technicalexpertise for BHAVINI will be drawn from theIndira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research(IGCAR), which has accumulated over twodecades of experience in fast breeder reactortechnology. NPCIL, which will take 5% of theequity in the new company, will provide theexpertise for project management to enabletimely construction and commissioning of theproject. NPCIL is at present operating 20 nuclearpower reactors and setting up 3 more at differentlocations in the country.

When completed, PFBR would produceelectricity through recycle of plutonium anddepleted uranium recovered from the spent fuelof Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors beingoperated by NPCIL.

URANIUM FUEL CYCLE

DAE’s Nuclear Fuel Complex at Hyderabadundertakes refining and conversion of uranium,which is received as magnesium diuranate(yellow cake) and refined. The main 400 t/yrplant fabricates PHWR fuel (which isunenriched). A small (25 t/yr) fabrication plantmakes fuel for the Tarapur BWRs from importedenriched (2.66% U-235) uranium. Depleteduranium oxide fuel pellets (from reprocesseduranium) and thorium oxide pellets are alsomade for PHWR fuel bundles. Mixed carbide fuelfor FBTR was first fabricated by Bhabha AtomicResearch Centre (BARC) in 1979.


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Heavy water is supplied by DAE’s HeavyWater Board, and the seven plants are workingat capacity due to the current buildingprogramme.

A very small enrichment plant - insufficienteven for the Tarapur reactors - is operated byDAE’s Rare Materials Plant at Ratnahalli nearMysore. Some centrifuge R&D is undertaken byBARC.

Fuel fabrication is by the Nuclear FuelComplex in Hyderabad, which is setting up anew 500 t/yr PHWR fuel plant at Rawatbhatain Rajasthan, to serve the larger new reactors.Each 700 MWe reactor is said to need 125 t/yrof fuel. The company is proposing joint ventureswith US, French and Russian companies toproduce fuel for these reactors.

Reprocessing: Used fuel from the civilPHWRs is reprocessed by Bhabha AtomicResearch Centre (BARC) at Trombay, Tarapurand Kalpakkam to extract reactor-gradeplutonium for use in the fast breeder reactors.Small plants at each site were supplemented bya new Kalpakkam plant of some 100 t/yrcommissioned in 1998, and this is being extendedto reprocess FBTR carbide fuel. Apart from thisall reprocessing uses the Purex process. Furthercapacity is being built at Tarapur andKalpakkam, to come on line by 2010. India willreprocess the used fuel from the Kudankulamreactors and will keep the plutonium.

In 2003, a facility was commissioned atKalpakkam to reprocess mixed carbide fuel usingan advanced Purex process. Future FBRs will alsohave these facilities co-located.

The PFBR and the next four FBRs to becommissioned by 2020 will use oxide fuel. Afterthat it is expected that metal fuel with higherbreeding capability will be introduced and burn-up is intended to increase from 100 to 200 GWd/t.

Under plans for the India-specific safeguardsto be administered by the IAEA in relation tothe civil-military separation plan several fuelfabrication facilities will come under safeguards.

Uranium Resources in India

India's uranium resources are modest, with102,600 tonnes U as reasonably assuredresources (RAR) and 37,200 tonnes as inferred resources in situ (to $260/kgU) at January 2011.

In February 2012, 152,000 tU was claimed byDAE. Accordingly, India expects to import anincreasing proportion of its uranium fuel needs.In 2013 it was importing about 40% of uraniumrequirements.

Mining and processing of uranium is carriedout by Uranium Corporation of India Ltd(UCIL), a subsidiary of the Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE). The Company is havingits mining operations at Bagjata, Jaduguda,Bhatin, Narwapahar, Turamdih undergroundmines and Banduhurang opencast mines andupcoming mining projects at Mohuldih in EastSinghbhum district of Jharkhand and atTummalapalle mining project in AndhraPradesh and Gogi mining project at Karnataka.It has two processing plants at Jaduguda andTuramdih and an upcoming milling project atTummalepalle in Andra Pradesh. KPM opencastmining and milling project at Meghalaya is inthe pipeline.

Plans were announced to invest almost US$700 million to open further mines in Jharkhandat Banduhurang, Bagjata and Mohuldih; inMeghalaya at Domiasiat-Mawthabah (with amill) and in Andhra Pradesh at Lambapur-Peddagattu (with mill 50km away at Seripally),both in Nalgonda district.

In Jharkhand, Banduhurang is India’s firstopen cut mine and was commissioned in 2007.Bagjata is underground and was opened inDecember 2008, though there had been earliersmall operations 1986-91. A new mill atTuramdih in Jharkhand, with 3000 t/daycapacity, was commissioned in 2008. TheMohuldih underground mine of Jharkhand hasbeen developed as a modern underground mineand was commissioned by Chairman &Managing Director, UCIL on 17th April 2012.UCIL now operates six underground mines andone openpit mine in the state of Jharkhand inaddition to an underground mine in AndhraPradesh.

In Andhra Pradesh there are three kinds ofuranium mineralisation in the Cuddapah Basin,including unconformity-related deposits in thenorth of it. The northern Lambapur-Peddagattuproject in Nalgonda district 110 km southeast ofHyderabad has environmental clearance for oneopen cut and three small underground mines(based on some 6000 tU resources at about


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0.1%U) but faces local opposition. In August2007 the government approved a new US$ 270million underground mine and mill atTummalapalle near Pulivendula in Kadapadistrict, at the south end of the Basin and 300km south of Hyderabad, for commissioning hasbeen initiated. A further northern deposit nearLambapur-Peddagattu is Koppunuru, in Gunturdistrict.

In Meghalaya, close to the Bangladeshborder in the West Khasi Hills, the Domiasiat-Mawthabah mine project (near Nongbah-Jynrin)is in a high rainfall area and has also facedlongstanding local opposition partly related toland acquisition issues but also fanned by acampaign of fear mongering. For this reason, anddespite clear state government support inprinciple, UCIL does not yet have approval fromthe state government for the open cut mine atKylleng-Pyndeng-Shahiong (also known asKylleng-Pyndengshohiong-Mawthabah andformerly as Domiasiat) though pre-projectdevelopment has been authorised on 422 ha.

India's Forest and Environment Ministry hasgiven clearance to the UCIL to start uraniummining in Meghalaya. UCIL has earmarked aninvestment of $229-million to develop theuranium reserves in Meghalaya. However, theenvironmental approval in December 2007 fora proposed uranium mine and processing planthere and for the Nongstin mine has beenreported. There is sometimes violent oppositionby NGOs to uranium mine development in theWest Khasi Hills, including at Domiasiat andWakhyn, which have estimated resources of 9500tU and 4000 tU respectively. Tyrnai is a smallerdeposit in the area. The status and geography ofall these is not known. The clearance comesdespite decades of opposition to uraniumexploration and mining in the province by localsclaiming to be victims of radiation and toxicwaste resulting from exploratory drillings byUCIL. However, plans for an opencast mine toextract the mineral from the West Khasi Hillshave been hanging fire since 1992 on fears ofradiation and environmental hazards.

However, India has reserves of 290,000tonnes of thorium - about one quarter of theworld total, and these are intended to fuel itsnuclear power programme for a longer-term.

In September 2009 state-owned oil companyONGC proposed to form a joint venture with

UCIL to explore for uranium in Assam.

Uranium Imports

By December 2008, Russia's Rosatom andAreva from France had contracted to supplyuranium for power generation, whileKazakhstan, Brazil and South Africa werepreparing to do so. The Russian agreement wasto provide fuel for PHWRs as well as the twosmall Tarapur reactors, the Areva agreement wasto supply 300 tU.

In February 2009 the actual Russian contractwas signed with TVEL to supply 2000 tonnes ofnatural uranium fuel pellets for PHWRs over tenyears, costing $780 million, and 58 tonnes of low-enriched fuel pellets for the Tarapur reactors. The Areva shipment arrived in June 2009. RAPS-2 became the first PHWR to be fuelled withimported uranium, followed by units 5 & 6 there.

In January 2009 NPCIL signed amemorandum of understanding withKazatomprom for supply of 2100 tonnes ofuranium concentrate over six years and afeasibility study on building Indian PHWRreactors in Kazakhstan. Under this agreement,300 tonnes of natural uranium was to come fromKazakhstan in the 2010-11 year. Another 210 twould come from Russia. A further agreementin April 2011 covered 2100 tonnes by 2014. InMarch 2013 both countries agreed to extend thecivil nuclear cooperation agreement past 2014.

In September 2009 India signed uraniumsupply and nuclear cooperation agreements withNamibia and Mongolia. In March 2010 Russiaoffered India a stake in the Elkon uraniummining development in its Sakha Republic, andagreed on a joint venture with ARMZ UraniumHolding Co. In 2013 negotiations for a bilateralsupply treaty with Australia were to commence.

In July 2010 the Minister for S&T reportedthat India had received 868 tU from France,Russia & Kazakhstan in the year to date: 300 tUnatural uranium concentrate from Areva, 58 tUas enriched UO2 pellets from Areva, 210 tU asnatural uranium oxide pellets from TVEL and300 tU as natural uranium from Kazatomprom.

As of August 2010 the DAE said that sevenreactors (1400 MWe) were using imported fueland working at full power, nine reactors (2630MWe) used domestic uranium.


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THORIUM FUEL CYCLEDEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

The long-term goal of India’s nuclearprogramme has been to develop an advancedheavy-water thorium cycle. The first stage of thisemploys the PHWRs fuelled by natural uranium,and light water reactors, to produce plutonium.

Stage 2 uses fast neutron reactors burningthe plutonium to breed U-233 from thorium. Theblanket around the core will have uranium aswell as thorium, so that further plutonium(ideally high-fissile Pu) is produced as well asthe U-233.

Then in Stage 3, Advanced Heavy WaterReactors (AHWRs) burn the U-233 from stage 2and this plutonium with thorium, getting abouttwo thirds of their power from thorium.

In 2002 the regulatory authority issuedapproval to start construction of a 500 MWeprototype fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam andis in an advanced stage of completion,construction by BHAVINI. The unit is expectedto be operational in 2013, fuelled with uranium-plutonium oxide (the reactor-grade Pu beingfrom its existing PHWRs). It will have a blanketwith thorium and uranium to breed fissile U-233 and plutonium respectively. This will takeIndia’s ambitious thorium programme to stage2, and set the scene for eventual full utilisationof the country’s abundant thorium to fuelreactors. Six more such 500 MWe fast reactorshave been announced for construction, four ofthem by 2020.

So far about one tonne of thorium oxide fuelhas been irradiated experimentally in PHWRreactors and has reprocessed and some of thishas been reprocessed, according to BARC. Areprocessing centre for thorium fuels is being setup at Kalpakkam.

Design is largely complete for the first 300MWe AHWR, though no site has yet beenannounced. It will have vertical pressure tubesin which the light water coolant under highpressure will boil, circulation being byconvection. A large heat sink - “Gravity-drivenwater pool” - with 7000 cubic metres of water isnear the top of the reactor building. In April2008 an AHWR critical facility wascommissioned at BARC “to conduct a wide

range of experiments, to help validate the reactorphysics of the AHWR through computer codesand in generating nuclear data about materials,such as thorium-uranium 233 based fuel, whichhave not been extensively used in the past.” Ithas all the components of the AHWR’s coreincluding fuel and moderator, and can beoperated in different modes with various kindsof fuel in different configurations.

In 2009 the AEC announced some featuresof the 300 MWe AHWR – It is mainly a thorium-fuelled reactor with several advanced passivesafety features to enable meeting next generationsafety requirements such as three days graceperiod for operator response, elimination of theneed for exclusion zone beyond the plantboundary, 100-year design life, and high levelof fault tolerance. The advanced safetycharacteristics have been verified in a series ofexperiments carried out in full-scale test facilities.Also, per unit of energy produced, the amountof long-lived minor actinides generated is nearlyhalf of that produced in current generation LightWater Reactors. Importantly, a high level ofradioactivity in the fissile and fertile materialsrecovered from the used fuel of AHWR, and theirisotopic composition, preclude the use of thesematerials for nuclear weapons.

At the same time the AEC announced anLEU version of the AHWR. This will use low-enriched uranium plus thorium as a fuel,dispensing with the plutonium input. About39% of the power will come from thorium (viain situ conversion to U-233, of two thirds inAHWR), and burn-up will be 64 GWd/t.Uranium enrichment level will be 19.75%, giving4.21% average fissile content of the U-Th fuel.Plutonium production will be less than in lightwater reactors, and the fissile proportion will beless and the Pu-238 portion three times as high,giving inherent proliferation resistance. Thedesign is intended for overseas sales, and theAEC says that “the reactor is manageable withmodest industrial infrastructure within the reachof developing countries”.

NUCLEAR ENERGY PARKS IN INDIA

In line with past practice such as at the eight-unit Rajasthan nuclear plant, NPCIL intends toset up five more "Nuclear Energy Parks", eachwith a capacity for up to eight new-generation


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reactors of 1,000 MWe, six reactors of 1600 MWeor simply 10,000 MWe at a single location. By2032, 40-45 GWe would be provided from thesefive. NPCIL says it is confident of being able tostart work by 2012 on at least four new reactorsat all four sites designated for imported plants.The new energy parks are to be:

Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu: Three morepairs of Russian VVER units, making 9200 MWe. Environmental approval has been given for thefirst four. A general framework agreement forconstruction of units 3 & 4 was planned to besigned in mid 2010, with equipment supply andservice contracts soon after, but these weredelayed on account of supplier liability questions,with India wanting the units to come under its2010 vendor liability law. In July 2012 Russiaagreed to $3.5 billion in export financing forunits 3 & 4, to cover 85% of their cost. A furthercredit line of $800 million is available to coverfuel supplies. The credit lines carry interest at4% pa and would be repayable over 14 yearsand 4 years respectively, from one year after thestart of power generation. The Indiangovernment said it expected to take up the creditoffers to the value of $3.06 billion, about 53% ofthe $5.78 billion estimated total project cost. InMarch 2013 cabinet approved construction ofunits 3 & 4, and site work began.

Jaitapur in Maharashtra: An EUR 7 billionframework agreement with Areva was signedin December 2010 for the first two EPR reactors,along with 25 years supply of fuel. Environ-mental approval has been given for these, andsite work was planned to start in 2011 with aview to 2013 for construction. In July 2009 Arevasubmitted a bid to NPCIL to build the first twoEPR units, which will have Alstom turbine-generators, accounting for about 30% of the totalEUR 7 billion plant cost. The site will host sixunits, providing 9600 MWe. Areva now hopesto obtain export credit financing and sign acontract which would put the first two units online in 2020 and 2021. In 2013 negotiationscontinued and the government said it expectedthe cost of the first two units to be 1,20,000 crore($21 billion).

Mithi Virdi in Gujarat will host up to sixWestinghouse AP1000 units built in threesatages. NPCIL says it has initiated pre-projectactivities here, with groundbreaking in 2012. A

preliminary environmental assessment for thewhole project was completed in January 2013.Westinghouse signed an agreement with NPCILin June 2012 to launch negotiations for an earlyworks agreement which was expected in a fewmonths. The first stage of two units is due online in 2019-20, the others to 2024.

Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh will host sixGE Hitachi ESBWR units. GE Hitachi said in June2012 that it expected soon to complete an earlyworks agreement with NPCIL to set terms forobtaining approval from the Government for theproject. Site preparation is under way, and apreliminary environmental assessment is beingprepared.

Haripur in West Bengal to host four or sixfurther Russian VVER-1200 units, making 4800MWe. NPCIL says it has initiated pre-projectactivities here, with groundbreaking planned for2012. However, strong local opposition led theWest Bengal government to reject the proposalin August 2011, and change of site to Orissa statehas been suggested

Kumharia and Gorakhpur in theFatehabad district in Haryana is earmarked forfour indigenous 700 MWe PHWR units and theAEC had approved the state's proposal for a 2800MWe nuclear power plant.

Bargi or Chuttka in Madhya Pradesh isalso designated for two indigenous 700 MWePHWR units.

At Markandi (Pati Sonapur) in Orissa thereare plans for up to 6000 MWe of PWR capacity.

NUKE COMMAND

Formalizing the country’s nuclear commandand control structure, India’s cabinet on January4, 2003 decided to place ultimate control of thecountry’s nuclear forces in the hands of apolitical council chaired by then Prime MinisterAtal Behari Vajpayee. It took more than four anda half years after declaring itself a nuclearweapon power, to make public a set of politicalprinciples and administrative arrangement tomanage its arsenal of atomic weapons. TheCabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met toreview progress in implementing India’s nucleardoctrine, the state of readiness of its strategicforces and the procedures for their commandand control.


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Through the CCS statement the governmenthas tried to share information on some keyaspects of its nuclear weapons managementwith the Indian public and the world. Althoughthe broad outline of India’s nuclear doctrine wasknown for a while, the nature of its commandand control over the atomic arsenal hadremained unclear.

N-Command Structure: The governmentaccounted the formation of “Nuclear CommandAuthority” (NCA) which will be solelyresponsible for ordering a nuclear strike. TheNCA will have two bodies: Political council andExecutive council.

Political Council: Political council is the solebody, which can authorize the use of nuclearweapon. It represents the civilian leadership. Asthe first among equal, the Prime Minister willsymbolically have his finger on the nuclearbutton. An alternative chain of command hasalso been approved to take charge in case thecommand chain is disturbed in any way. It hasnot been made public besides the Prime Minister,as the chairperson, the political council will alsobe represented by the Home Minister, theDefence Minister, the Foreign Minister and theFinance Minister.

Executive Council: The executive councilchaired by the National Security Advisor to thePrime Minister, will provide inputs for decisionmaking by the National command Authority andexecute the directives given to it by the Politicalcouncil. The real strength of the council has notbeen announced by the Cabinet Committee onSecurity.

The cabinet committee also approved theappointment of a “Commander-in-chief,strategic forces command” who would beresponsible for the administration of the nuclearforce. It will be the custodian of all nuclearweapons and delivery systems. It will alsoformulate the strategy for retaliation and advisethe chiefs of staff committee and actually fire thenukes. A senior officer of the Indian Air Force isexpected to be nominated to the post. Once the“chief of staff committee” receives inputs fromthe strategic forces command, it will providemilitary advice to the political council of thenuclear command authority through theexecutive council. The final decision has to bemade by the leader (Prime Minister) in his

individual capacity based on military advice,especially when one is going to act only inretaliation.

The security committee expressedsatisfaction with the overall preparedness of itsarsenal and reiterated the decision to limit India’scapability to a “credible minimum deterrent” andthe commitment to use nuclear weapons only inretaliation. India also reaffirmed that it wouldnot use the weapons against non-nuclearweapon powers. Against nuclear weaponpowers, its strategy would remain on the policyof “No-first use”. India is committed not to usenuclear arms first in any conflict, but only inretaliation for a nuclear attack against it or itsforces. But in the event of a major attackinvolving chemical or biological weapons, Indiareserves the right to use nuclear weapons.

The nuclear draft doctrine was released bythe National Security Advisory Board set up afterMay 1998 tests, in August 1999. Theannouncement has confirmed the essence of thatdraft as official policy. The only new element inthe doctrine is the interesting caveat it hasintroduced to its No-first use posture. The UnitedStates has retained a similar option to preventnations with chemical and biological weaponsfrom assuming that the use of these weapons ofmass destruction will not invite a nuclearresponse. While India has consciously chosen notto use nuclear weapons first, it warned potentialadversaries that the nuclear retaliation to a firststrike will be massive and designed to inflictunacceptable damage.

Alternative N-Command: India has morethan one alternative nuclear command structurein place. In the event of a surprise attack, thesealternative command authorities will be inposition to take retaliatory action. An alternativecommand puts the final touch to India’s nucleardeterrent. If an enemy knows that such acommand exists, but does not know where theyare; this will deter a surprise attack.

India may have two or three alternativecommand structures. Both the location andnature of the command will remain a secret. Thiswill never be disclosed. The succession ladder ofvarious officials had also been worked out.During the Kargil war and mobilization crisis,India had made adequate preparation on thenuclear front and could have retaliated if therehad been any need.


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The civil chain of command has also not beenmade public. In a setting in which the PrimeMinister who has been vested with the soleauthority over the nuclear button, is unable tofunction, conventional nuclear command andcontrol hierarchy demands that the next in theline of succession be identified. In the US, forinstance, where the President has authority overthe nuclear button, the structure identifies 16others in the line of succession.

India has also full-fledged delivery system.There are multiple agencies tasked withresponsibility on nuclear issues. Some of these,like the Department of Atomic Energy are Civiland some, like the Army’s 333 Missiles Group,are military. India’s Prithvi and Agni missiles andits Mi ranges and Sukoi-30 fighter bombers arenuclear capable. A sea based nuclear deterrentwill be ready once India has submarine-launchedcruise missile.

INDIAN NUCLEAR DRAFT

The acquisition of an advanced nuclearweapon capability also necessitated theformulation of a nuclear draft. It was in thiscontext that the Indian Nuclear Draft wasreleased by National Security Advisory Board ofIndia on 17 Aug. 1999. This document preparedon India’s nuclear doctrine was designed forinformal public debate, details regarding theconfiguration of nuclear forces and targetingschemes flowing from the broad framework.

The prime objective of India is to achieveeconomic, political, social, scientific andtechnological developments within a peacefuland democratic framework. It considers India’ssecurity as an integral component of itsdevelopment process. The notion adheres firmlyto its continued commitment to certain principles- (a) to restrict the purpose of nuclear weaponsto credible minimum deterrence against nuclearweapons only and not visualizing use of theseweapons in nuclear scenario and (b) to havecommitment to a policy of ‘no first use’.

The draft earnestly seeks to enhance thecredibility of India’s nuclear deterrence andacquire adequate retaliatory capability.Deterrence requires that India maintains: (a)sufficient survivable and prepared nuclear force;(b) robust communication & control system; (c)

effective intelligence; (d) comprehensiveplanning and training for operations; (e) the willto employ nuclear forces and weapons. Specialfocus is to be given to ensure nuclear safety andimprovement in R&D programmes to sustaintechnological advancements. India will focus ondeveloping a strong disaster control system andcontinue to strive for making a nuclear-freeworld. In a nutshell, India’s nuclear doctrinefirmly adheres to a tolerant defensive policy aswell as explicitly reflects its nuclear prowess. Thedoctrine is indicative of the endurance, tolerance,strength and greatness of a nuclear India.

NUCLEAR POWER VISION

The vision 2020 document of 2000 and theTenth Five-Year Plan (2002-2007) say nuclearpower is India’s insurance for energy security.“Aggressively build capabilities and capacity innuclear power to progressively raise its share inIndia’s fuel mix,” according to the Tenth FiveYear Plan that advocated for more nuclearenergy. To achieve this, it suggested partialprivatisation of nuclear power generation andmarket financing for projects.

India would need 500,000 MW of power by2050. It has a vast coal reserve, but there aredoubts whether all of it can be mined. Thecountry’s hydrocarbon resources won’t last longand it will become even more dependent onimports. India would have harnessed all itshydroelectricity resources by 2050, and non-conventional energy is unlikely to be cost-effective. A mix of all these resources could helpbut DAE feels that nuclear energy is the onlysolution, which can fill the gap betweendemands and supply. The government agreesand has decided to cut the estimated 70 per centcontribution of coal-based power to 62 per centby 2020 and compensate the shortfall throughnuclear stations. The government wants that by2050 nuclear reactors supply 25 per cent ofIndia’s total power production. The DAE is surethat it can generate 10,000 MW of nuclear powerby 2010 and 20,000 MW by 2020. Its confidenceis based on an indigenous technology, whichrecycles spent fuel of thermal nuclear reactorsto get plutonium for FBRs. The Nuclear PowerCorporation says it will generate 1,300 MWduring the Tenth Five Year Plan and 4,660 MWduring Eleventh Plan to make up for the first10,000 MW target within the next six years.


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Three-stage nuclear energy programme aimsat generating 20,000 MW of electricity by 2020.The programme will begin by using scarceuranium in the first stage to thorium in the thirdstage by 2020.

Stage-I: Twenty-one pressurized heavywater reactors using natural uranium to generate10,000 MW of power by 2010.

Stage-II: Fast breeder reactors (FBRs) will useplutonium extracted from spent uranium fuel ofStage-I to generate 10,000 MW by 2020, whichmeans 12.5 per cent of India’s electricity need.

Stage III: Advanced heavy water reactorsto use plutonium and new fuel of thorium.India’s 3,00,000 tonnes of thorium supposed toproduce electricity for 400 years.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

As per the current definition, Nuclearproliferation includes, apart from acquisition ofnuclear weapons, the acquisition of fissionablematerials like plutonium and enriched uraniumand also the ability to produce them.

Nuclear proliferation can be accomplishedin two ways, horizontal and vertical. If non-nuclear regions or states become nuclear powers,it is the case of horizontal proliferation. A nuclearpower state when goes on adding to its nucleararsenal, the case is of vertical proliferation. Theemphasis on horizontal proliferation totallyignoring vertical proliferation has been the realcause of confrontation between the nuclearhaves and have-nots.

In order to check the horizontal proliferationnuclear haves devised various inspection andcontrol mechanisms based on bilateral accord.But this was not enough as the fear that nationsmay strop around and buy their materials fromstates that imposed the least control and evenno controls prompted them to establishInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) topreserve the “long term and safe” foreignmarkets for its nuclear materials and technologyand international system of safeguards.

This control system consists of five basicelements:

1. An agreement between the agency andthe recipient country regarding controlprovisions.

2. A design of the nuclear facilities undercontrol.

3. Provision of records.

4. Reports to the agency based upon therecords.

5. Onsite inspection by the agency.

Structural weaknesses of the NPT

(a) The imbalance in the distribution ofobligations and benefits between thenuclear weapon powers and the non nuclearweapon states.

(b) The omission of any reference to thevertical proliferation in the treaty.

(c) The technological denials embodied in thediscriminatory provisions regardingsafeguards (Art. III), right to peaceful usesof nuclear energy (Art. IV) and right topeaceful nuclear explosives PNEs (Art. V).

(d) The omission of nuclear securityguarantees to non-nuclear weapon statesin the Treaty.

(e) The fragile UN resolution 225 on nuclearsecurity guarantee in 1968.

Political Instrument Devised by the SuperPowers

(a) To perpetuate the status quo and thehierarchical character of the internationalsystem.

(b) To restrict the nuclear club membershiponly to five nuclear weapon powers.

(c) To establish a clientele relationshipbetween the nuclear powers and the non-nuclear powers.

(d) To sharply divide nations into the nuclearhaves and nuclear have nots.

(e) To establish technological hegemony overthe developing nations.

N-safety & Regulation

The nuclear safety in India is regulated byan autonomous body, the Atomic EnergyRegulatory Board (AERB) established undersection 27 of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 on 15Nov. 1983. Moreover, in recent times, environ-mental issues have assumed significance mainlyfor ensuring sustainable development in allspheres. The AERB has issued the guidelines


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fixing the upper limit for radiation annuallywhich is 30 mSv. Besides, the BARC has set up aHealth Safety and Environmental Group in thepremises of every nuclear power plant to monitorradiation.

In fact, the AERB together with the SafetyReview Committee for Operating Plants(SARCOP) is responsible for regulating the safetystandards. In order to deal with nuclearemergencies, a Crisis Management Group(CMG) was constituted in 1987, which comprisesmembers from organisations like NPCIL, BARC,AERB, HWB (Heavy Water Board) etc. With aview to managing the crises situation, the DAEhas identified an Exclusion Zone of 1.6 kmsurrounding the power station where habitationhas been prohibited. Besides, an area of 16 kmradius around the plant has been identified asthe EPZ.

INDIA AND NPT

After the end of the Second World War, theworld which had experienced the catastrophiceffect of atom bomb embarked on the path notto have a repetition of nuclear history. Aftereighteen years of futile discussions a series ofsubstantial developments got its origin and itsmanifestation came in the form of Partial TestBan Treaty, 1963. The process yielded a veryimportant and relevant treaty in 1968 known asNon proliferation Treaty or NTP. This treatyprohibits further spread of nuclear weapons. Thedecade of 1970, which was declared asDisarmament Decade by U.N. had an auspiciousstarting by having 43 countries ratifying thetreaty. Thus the treaty came into force on 5March, 1970. A total of 190 parties joined theTreaty, with five states being recognized asnuclear-weapon states: the United States, Russia,the United Kingdom, France, and China.

The Indian stand is that it has refused to signthe treaty on the ground that it is discriminatoryand unequal. The official stand of India over thetreaty was in crystal clear manner aircasted byMr. K. P. Unnikrishnan in U. N. GeneralAssembly that India would not subscribe to atreaty of an attitude that divides the world intohaves and have-nots.

The NPT professes for a world where fivecountries would have nuclear weapons and restof the countries would be devoid of it as theproliferations of nuclear weapon is prohibited

under the treaty. It tantamounts to nuclearhegemony creating an inequality in the worldorder. India says that it can become a part oftreaty, but first there should be completedisarmament. Despite several resolutions andtreaties, no substantial development has beendone by NWS (Nuclear Weapon States). It is amatter of great concern to India’s security, aswe have China and Pakistan as nuclear states.The government of India is in favour ofexpansion of exclusive club of nuclear power byinduction of it. So, NPT has to be genuine to itsgoal, either we have a range of states havingnuclear war heads to balance global power orall the countries of the world adopt a totallynuclear weapons free world. However, in thelight of recent tests of China and France andproposed NMD of US and its withdrawal fromABM 1972, there is not much light of hope.

INDIA AND CTBT

The another very substantial step, to get aworld in which there would be supremacy offive countries rather than a world free fromnuclear weapon, was taken in June 1995 inGeneva to adopt the Comprehensive Test BanTreaty (CTBT). The treaty contains acomprehensive plan to prohibit nuclear tests. Thetreaty comprised 154 countries and verified by51 countries before a review conference was heldin Vienna in October 1999. The ratification ofAmerica and China is required to get the treatyinto force. But these countries have not yetratified it and one of the bizarre points is thatAmerica, that preaches other countries to signit, didn’t get it approved by its Senate as theytreated it as against the interest of US security.Russia signed the treaty on Sep 24, 1996 andratified it on Jun 30, 2000.

The 44 countries, including five nuclearpowers are considered as having nuclearcapability. Out of 44, 41 countries have signedit, while 26 countries have ratified it. As of June2013, 159 states had ratified the CTBT andanother 24 states signed it but not ratified it.There are 183 signatories of CTBT.

India opposes the treaty on the ground thatit doesn’t speak about destruction of existingnuclear stockpiles. The treaty doesn’t contain anytime bound destruction programme. Soaccording to the treaty, disarmament of theweapons would solely depend on the attitudeof NWS. The recent tests of China, France and


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US, underground subcritical tests of Nevada puta huge question mark on their intention. Therecent development in US Congress andwithdrawal from ABM clearly shows that futureis by no way going to be nuclear free world.

In such a condition India says that hersecurity concerns demand nuclear power, as wehave in our surrounding nuclear China andPakistan. India is willing to have a consensusover CTBT in country only if some of herdemands are conceded. It demands that Indiashould be included in the club of NWS andcountries having nuclear arms should go for acomprehensive programme for disarmamentwith specific time bound resolution.

But no proper attention is given to ourdemands and India has refused to become aparty of the treaty. The self moratorium imposedby India is an example of our stand that, ournuclear programme is only for alternate purpose.The commitment becomes more authentic withour proposal of ‘no first use’ which was rejectedby Pakistan.

India has been voicing since 1960 in favourof disarmament and has actively participated init. But it is against a global order where somecountries have weapons of mass destruction andthe rest are at their mercy. We aspire for a worldbased on equality and respect for each other.India believes in peace based on cooperation, andnot under the cover of fear.

India’s Objections

� No time frame to denuclearize the five(US, UK, France, Russia, China) nuclearweapon States.

� Treaty allows withdrawal withoutsanction of signatories.

� The entry into force clause isunacceptable.

� The Treaty is not comprehensive; it bansnuclear tests but allows computer“simulations.

INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL

In the current scenario, the then PresidentGeorge W. Bush called India a natural partnerof the United States and his Administrationsought to assist India’s rise as a major power. InJuly 2005, President Bush and Indian Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh issued a JointStatement resolving to establish a globalpartnership between their two countries throughincreased cooperation on numerous economic,security, and global issues. In this Joint Statement,the Bush Administration dubbed India aresponsible state with advanced nucleartechnology and vowed to achieve full civiliannuclear energy cooperation with India.

The Joint Statement acknowledged thatIndia’s nuclear programme has both a militaryand a civilian component. Both sides agreed thatthe purpose was not to constrain India’s strategicprogramme but to enable resumption of full civilnuclear energy cooperation in order to enhanceglobal energy and environmental security. Suchcooperation was predicated on the assumptionthat any international civil nuclear energycooperation (including by the US) offered toIndia in the civilian sector should, firstly, not bediverted away from civilian purposes, andsecondly, should not be transferred from Indiato third countries without safeguards. Theseconcepts will be reflected in the SafeguardsAgreement to be negotiated by India withInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Principles which Guided India

• Credible, feasible, and implementable ina transparent manner;

• Consistent with India’s national securityand R&D requirements as well as notprejudicial to the three-stage nuclearprogramme in India;

• Must be cost effective in itsimplementation; and

• Must be acceptable to Parliament andpublic opinion.

Based on these principles, India will:

Include in the civilian list only those facilitiesoffered for safeguards that, after separation, willno longer be engaged in activities of strategicsignificance.

The overarching criterion would be ajudgement whether subjecting a facility to IAEAsafeguards would impact adversely on India’snational security.

However, a facility will be excluded from thecivilian list if it is located in a larger hub ofstrategic significance, notwithstanding the fact


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that it may not be normally engaged in activitiesof strategic significance.

A civilian facility would therefore, be one thatIndia has determined not to be relevant to itsstrategic programme.

Taking the above into account, India, on thebasis of reciprocal action by the US, would liketo adopt the following approach:

Thermal Power Reactors: India will identifyand offer for safeguards 14 thermal powerreactors between 2006 and 2014. This willinclude the 4 presently safeguarded reactors(TAPS 1&2, RAPS 1&2) and in addition KK 1&2that are under construction and other PHWRs,each of a capacity of 220MW, will also be offered.

Phasing of specific thermal power reactors,being offered for safeguards would be indicatedseparately by India. Such an offer would, ineffect, cover 14 out of the 22 thermal powerreactors in operation or currently underconstruction to be placed under safeguards, andwould raise the total installed Thermal Powercapacity by MWs under safeguards from thepresent 19% to 65% by 2014.

Fast Breeder Reactors: India is not in aposition to accept safeguards on the PrototypeFast Breeder Reactors (PFBR) and the FastBreeder Test Reactor (FBTR), both located atKalpakkam. The Fast Breeder Programme is atthe R&D stage and its technology will take timeto mature and reach an advanced stage ofdevelopment.

Future Reactors: India has decided to placeunder safeguards all future civilian thermalpower reactors and civilian breeder reactors, andthe Government of India retains the sole right todetermine such reactors as civilian.

Research Reactors: India will permanentlyshut down the CIRUS reactor. It will also beprepared to shift the fuel core of the APSARAreactor that was purchased from France outsideBARC and make the fuel core available to beplaced under safeguards.

Upstream facilities:

The following upstream facilities would beidentified and separated as civilian:

� List of those specific facilities in thenuclear fuel complex, which will be

offered for safeguards.

� The heavy water production plants atThal, Tuticorin and Hazira are proposedto be designated for civilian use. We donot consider these plants as relevant forsafeguards purposes.

Downstream facilities:

The following downstream facilities wouldbe identified and separated as civilian.

� India is willing to accept safeguards inthe ‘campaign’ mode in respect of theTarapur power reactor fuel reprocessingplant.

� The Tarapur and Rajasthan away fromreactors’ spent fuel storage pools wouldbe made available for safeguards withappropriate phasing.

Research Facilities: India will declare thefollowing facilities as civilian:

(a) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

(b) Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

(c) Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

(d) Institute for Plasma Research

(e) Institute of Mathematics Science

(f) Institute of Physics

(g) Tata Memorial Centre

(h) Board of Radiation and IsotopeTechnology

(i) Harish Chandra Research Institute

These facilities are safeguards-irrelevant. Itis our expectation that they will play a prominentrole in international cooperation.

Safeguards

The United States has conveyed itscommitment to the reliable supply of fuel toIndia. Consistent with the July 18, 2005, JointStatement, the United States has also reaffirmedits assurance to create the necessary conditionsfor India to have assured and full access to fuelfor its reactors.

To further guard against any disruption offuel supplies, the United States is prepared totake the following additional steps:

(i) The United States is willing to incorporateassurances regarding fuel supply in thebilateral U.S.-India agreement on peaceful


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uses of nuclear energy under Section 123of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, whichwould be submitted to the U.S. Congress.

(ii) The United States will join India inseeking to negotiate with the IAEA anIndia-specific fuel supply agreement.

(iii) The United States will support an Indianeffort to develop a strategic reserve ofnuclear fuel to guard against anydisruption of supply over the lifetime ofIndia’s reactors.

(iv) If despite these arrangements, a disruptionof fuel supplies to India occurs, the UnitedStates and India would jointly convene agroup of friendly supplier countries likeRussia, France and the United Kingdomto pursue such measures as would restorefuel supply to India.

In the light of the above understanding withthe United States, an India-specific safeguardsagreement will be negotiated between India andthe IAEA providing for safeguards to guardagainst withdrawal of safeguarded nuclearmaterial from civilian use at any time as well asproviding for corrective measures that India maytake to ensure uninterrupted operation of itscivilian nuclear reactors in the event of disruptionof foreign fuel supplies. Taking this into account,India will place its civilian nuclear facilities underIndia-specific safeguards in perpetuity andnegotiate an appropriate safeguards agreementto this end with the IAEA. This plan is inconformity with the commitments made toParliament.

NUCLEAR POLLUTION

It is not only the use of fossil fuels thatpollutes our surroundings; even the use ofnuclear energy gives rise to pollutants and,hence, pollutes our environment. In fact, thepollution caused by the use of nuclear energyfrom fission process is much more damagingthan the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels.The fuels like U-235 are radio-active substances,which keep on emitting some nuclear radiationsall the time.

The dangerous nuclear radiations can enterinto the environment by leakage from nuclearreactors where fission of U-235 is going on. These

nuclear radiations can damage and causeirreparable damage to cells and in some caseseven lead to death.

The waste material produced during thevarious steps of the nuclear energy productionis collectively known as nuclear wastes. Theseare harmful nuclear radiations. If theseradioactive wastes are dumped in garbage bins,they will emit nuclear radiations, and pose athreat to the life of humans and animals. Also ifthey are dumped in rivers or sea, they willcontaminate water and damage aquatic life. So,there is a great problem of disposal of nuclearwaste.

NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT

No discussion on nuclear power is completewithout consideration of safety andenvironmental factors. These are issues oflegitimate concern to the public in the aftermathof the Chernobyl accident and because of thealarming scenarios of nuclear power appearingin the media. More than 99 per cent of the totalradioactivity in the entire nuclear fuel cycle isgenerated from the fuel processing plants. Toensure that this highly radioactive waste streamdoes not pose any hazards to the environment,a three-stage approach has been adopted. First,the waste will be incorporated in stable and inertsolid matrices. The conditioned waste will thenbe placed in canisters and kept in a retrievablestore under cooling and constant surveillance.Ultimately, the canisters will be stored in suitablegeological media.

A waste immobilization plant forincorporating the high level radioactive wastesgenerated from the fuel processing plants is setup along with the solid storage surveillancefacility of Tarapur. Immobilization involvesverification of radioactive waste, which is codedat underground disposal. The canisters in storagewill be air-cooked by natural convection andwhen the heat and the radioactivity in canistersdecay to desired level, they will be transportedto a suitable geological formation for ultimatestorage. The work on identifying suitablegeological formations for ultimate disposal hasbeen completed and a graveyard for storage ofnuclear wastes has been established in Trombay.

��


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The Supreme Command of the ArmedForces vests with the President of India. Theresponsibility for national defence rests with theCabinet. This is discharged through the Ministryof Defence, which provides the policyframework and wherewithal to the ArmedForces to discharge their responsibilities in thecontext of the defence of the country. TheDefence Minister is the head of the Ministry ofDefence. The principal task of the DefenceMinistry is to obtain policy directions of theGovernment on all defence and security relatedmatters and communicate them forimplementation to the Services Headquarters,Inter-Services Organizations, ProductionEstablishments and Research and DevelopmentOrganisations. It is also required to ensureeffective implementation of the Government•fspolicy directions and the execution of approvedprogrammes within the allocated resources.Ministry of Defence comprises four Departmentsviz.

• Department of Defence (DOD)

• Department of Defence Production (DDP)

• Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare(DESW)

• Department of Defence Research &Development (DDR&D)

Principal functions of all the Departments areas follows:

• The Department of Defence (DOD) dealswith the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS)and three Services and various Inter-Service Organisations. It is also responsiblefor the defence budget, establishmentmatters, defence policy, matters relatingto Parliament, defence co-operation withforeign countries and co-ordination of allactivities.

• The Department of Defence Production(DDP) is headed by a Secretary and dealswith matters pertaining to defenceproduction, indigenisation of imported

stores, equipment and spares, planningand control of departmental productionunits of the Ordnance Factory Board andfor Defence Public Sector Undertakings(DPSUs).

• The Department of Defence Research andDevelopment (DDR&D) is headed by aSecretary, who is also the ScientificAdviser to the Raksha Mantri. Its functionis to advise the Government on scientificaspects of military equipment and logisticsand the formulation of research, designand development plans for equipmentused by the Services.

• The Department of Ex-ServicemenWelfare (DESW) is headed by anAdditional Secretary and deals with allre-settlement, welfare and pensionarymatters of Ex-Servicemen.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCERESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The Indian Security is based on armed forces.The arms and ammunitions for these forces areprovided by the Department of DefenceResearch and Development. The department isdedicatedly working towards enhancing self-reliance in Defence Systems. The Departmentundertakes design & development leading toproduction of world class weapon systems andequipment in accordance with the expressedneeds and the qualitative requirements laid downby the three services. The Department is workingin various areas of military technology whichinclude aeronautics, armaments, combatvehicles, electronics, instrumentationengineering systems, missiles, materials, navalsystems, advanced computing, simulation andlife sciences.

Defence Research & DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) works under Departmentof Defence Research and Development of

DEFENCECHRONICLEIAS ACADEMYA CIVIL SERVICES CHRONICLE INITIATIVE


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Ministry of Defence. DRDO is dedicatedlyworking towards enhancing self-reliance inDefence Systems and undertakes design &development leading to production of worldclass weapon systems and equipment inaccordance with the expressed needs and thequalitative requirements laid down by the threeservices. DRDO is working in various areas ofmilitary technology which include aeronautics,armaments, combat vehicles, electronics,instrumentation engineering systems, missiles,materials, naval systems, advanced computing,simulation and life sciences.

Department of Defence Production

The Department of Defence Production wasset up in 1962, in the aftermath of the Chineseaggression to create a self-reliant and self-sufficient indigenous defence production base. In November, 1965, Department of DefenceSupplies was created to forge linkages betweenthe civil industries and defence production units.The two departments were merged in December,1984 into the Department of Defence Productionand Supplies. The Department of DefenceProduction and Supplies has been renamed asDepartment of Defence Production w.e.f.January, 2004.

Since 1962, 39 Ordnance factories have beenset up and two projects, coming up at Nalandain Bihar and Korwa in U.P. Their capacitieshave been augmented and modernisedselectively keeping in mind the emergingrequirements of the Armed Forces. All theOrdnance Factories and Defence Public SectorUndertaking (DPSUs) are engaged in the taskof manufacture of equipment and stores forDefence Services. The products manufacturedinclude arms and ammunition, tanks, armouredvehicles, heavy vehicles, fighter aircraft andhelicopters, warships, submarines, missiles,ammunition, electronic equipment, earth movingequipment, special alloys and special purposesteels. In addition, capacities of civil sectors arealso utilised for the purpose. The followingDPSUs are functioning under the administrativecontrol of the Department:-

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)

• Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML)

• Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL)

• Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL)

• Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL)

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and EngineersLimited (GRSE)

• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)

• Ordinance Factory Board (OFB)

• Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI)

In addition, the following organisations arealso associated with the Department of DefenceProduction for the technical support:-

• Directorate General of Quality Assurance(DGQA)

• Directorate of Standardisation (DOS)

• Directorate General of AeronauticalQuality Assurance (DGAQA)

• Directorate of Planning & Coordination(Dte. of P&C)

• Defence Exhibition Organisation (DEO)

• ?National Institute for Research &Development in Defence Shipbuilding(NIRDESH)

These Defence Production Units havebecome self reliant, progressively. Additionalcapacities have been built up and new items havebeen productionised. These include the mainbattle tank Arjun, the Advanced LightHelicopter (ALH) and a range of 155 mmammunition.

Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO)

Providing a solid base to the national securitysystem, Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) was formed in 1958 byamalgamating Defence Science Organisationand some of the technical developmentestablishments. A separate department ofDefence Research and Development was formedin 1980 which now administers DRDO and its48 laboratories and establishments. TheDepartment of Defence Research andDevelopment formulates and executesprogrammes of scientific research, design anddevelopment in the fields of relevance to nationalsecurity, leading to the induction of newweapons, platforms and other equipmentsrequired by the Armed Forces. It also functions


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as the nodal agency for the execution of majordevelopment programmes of relevance todefence through integration of research,development, testing and production facilitieswith the national scientific institutions, publicsector undertakings and other agencies. Itfunctions under the control of scientific advisorto Defence Minister who is also Secretary,Defence Research and Development.

Contribution of DRDO: DRDO has madegreat strides since 1980 towards making ourarmed forces self reliant. On the one hand thishas enabled our Armed Forces to face the armsexport control regimes of advanced countries,whereas on the other hand, DRDO hasprogressively enhanced their combateffectiveness through development of state-of-the-art indigenous defence systems. During lastfew years, a number of defence systems andequipments have been productionised. Theseinclude:

1. Lakshya: Pilotless target aircraft (aerialtarget practice system)

2. Nishant: Remotely piloted vehicle (foraerial surveillance)

3. Prithvi: Surface -to-surface tacticalbattlefield missile.

4. Agni-I, Agni-II, Agni-III, Agni-IV,Agni-V & Agni-VI: Surface to surfacemissile.

5. BrahMos: Supersonic cruise missile 6. Trishul: Short range surface-to-air

missile 7. Akash: Medium-range mobile surface-

to-air missile 8. Arjun: Main Battle Tank 9. Sangraha: Integrated Electronic warfare

(EW) System for Navy 10. Samyukta: Integrated Electronic

warfare (EW) System for Army 11. Mihir: Helicopter based dunking sonar 12. Nag: Third generation “Fire-and-forget”

anti-tank missile 13. AERV: Armoured Engineer

Reconnaissance Vehicle for crossingwater obstacles.

14. Ajeya: Combat improved T-72 tank. 15. Sarvatra: Assault Bridge mechanically

launched.

16. Safari [MK1]: Muting systems fordeactivating remotely- controlledexplosive device.

17. Pinaka: Multibarrel rocket system. 18. INSAS: 5.56 mm. Indian small arms

system. 19. Tranquil: Radar warning receiver for

MIG 23 aircraft 20. Tempest: Radar warning receiver and

self protection jammer for MIG aircraft. 21. Catch: Airborne signal intelligence

systems. 22. Sansar: Bulk secrecy equipment with

high grade digital secrecy. 23. Samvahak: Artillery combat command

and control system. 24. Bhima: Aircraft weapon trolley 25. Humsa: Hull mounted sonar system 26. Kaveri Engine: Technologically complex

and vital system for the LCA as well asits future variants.

27. Rajendra: Passive phased array radar

INDIA'S DEFENCE POLICY

The main objectives of India•fs defencepolicy are to (a) promote and sustain durablepeace in the subcontinent and (b) equip thedefence forces adequately to safeguard theterritorial integrity of the country against foreignaggression. In the field of defence research, Indiahas achieved great success and owing to defencescientists, India, today is in the short list of somedeveloped nations of the world who havecapabilities to produce modern defence arsenals.India is the third largest importer of arms andequipment in the world.

Integrated Guided Missile Programme

The Integrated Guided Missile DevelopmentProgram (IGMDP) was formed in 1983 with theaim of achieving self-sufficiency in missiledevelopment & production and today comprisesof five core missile programs •\the strategicAgni ballistic missile, the tactical Prithvi ballisticmissile, the Akash and Trishul surface-to-airmissiles and the Nag anti-tank guided missile.The program has given India the capability toproduce indigenous missiles in other key areas.By enforcing the Missile Technology ControlRegime (MTCR) to stop supplies of all kinds ofmissile material, Western nations are trying to


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prevent India from developing these strategicand tactical missiles. Undaunted by this high-level conspiracy, hats off to all the brilliantIndian scientists who have toiled so hard, in theirdedicated efforts, that they managed to developthese missiles.

In India IGMDP comprises of followingmissiles developed by DRDO:

(i) Surface to surface missile: Prithvi

(ii) Surface to air medium range missile:Akash

(iii) Anti-tank missile: Nag

(iv) Surface-to-air short range missile:Trishul

(v) Intermediate range ballistic missile(IRBM): Agni

Difference between Cruise Missile and Inter-Ballistic Missile

Cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelledguided vehicle that sustains flight throughaerodynamic lift for most of its flight path andwhose primary mission is to place a payload ona target. They fly within the earth•fs atmosphereand use jet engine technology. These vehiclesvary greatly in their speed and ability topenetrate defences. These can be classified as:

a) Subsonic cruise missile

b) Supersonic cruise missile

c) Hypersonic cruise missiles

Ballistic missiles follow ballistic trajectory i.e.first moves to outer space and then enters earthatmosphere and strike the target. Ballistic missilesare categorized according to their range, themaximum distance measured along the surfaceof the earth•fs ellipsoid from the point of launchof a ballistic missile to the point of impact of thelast element of its payload. These can be classifiedas:

a) Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

b) Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile

c) Medium-Range Ballistic Missile

d) Short-Range Ballistic missile

Brief introduction of important missiles

• Prithvi

Type: Short range, surface-to-surface

battlefield tactical missile.

Range: 150 km with 1000 kg warhead and250 km with 500 kg warhead (minimum 40 km)

Payload: 500-1000 kg

Warhead: Both conventional and nuclear,pre-fragmented and bomblets

Propulsion: Single stage, liquid propellant

Description: The use of Prithvi is visualizedas phases of preparatory and subsequent phasesof the battle to destroy enemy concentration oftanks and troops, logistic installations, airfieldsand communication facilities. It is difficult to spotthe Prithvi or trace its trajectory and targetbecause of its supersonic speed and limited flighttime. The missile is extremely accurate (itscircular error probability- CEP- is lower thanmost missile of its class) - with a circular accuracyof 10m. The short-range version is for the IndianArmy and long-range for IAF.

The Air Force version, designated as the SS-250 had a range of 250 km and could carry upto a maximum of a 500 kg as its payload. Byusing boosted liquid propellant to generate morethrust-to-weight ratio, DRDO has increased thepayload of the SS-250 to 1000 kg. The Prithvireportedly has the highest warhead-weight tooverall-weight of any missile in its class.

• Agni

Type: Surface-to-surface, IntermediateRange Ballistic Missile (IRBM)

Range: 700 km - 5000 km

Payload: 500 kg - 1000 kg; Multipurpose.

Propulsion: Two stage, first stage uses solidpropellant while second stage uses twin liquidpropellant engines.

Description: Agni is a re-entry technologydemonstrator. It is capable of carrying amultipurpose payload. One of its unique featuresis the heat shield of the re-entry vehicle.

Tested: First successful test of Agni tookplace on 22nd May, 1989. After this test, Indiabecame sixth nation-along with USA, Russia,France, China and Israel who have tested IRBM.In April 1999 India tested its Agni-II missile atBalasore (Odisha) successfully. Range of Agni-


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II is more than 2500 km. A shorter variant ofAgni- Agni-1 was successfully test-fired inJanuary 2002. Its range is about 700 km.

Agni-III Missile:

On September 21, 2012 India test-fired the3000 km range surface-to-surface nuclearcapable Agni-III missile from the Wheelers•fIsland off Odisha coast. Agni-3 is the country•fsfirst solid fuel missile that is compact and smallenough for easy mobility and can be easilypackaged for deployment on a variety of surfaceand sub-surface platform. Agni-III is anintermediate-range ballistic missile with a rangeof 3,500 km- 5,000 km. The missile•fs CircularError Probable (CEP) is within 40 meters range,which makes it the most sophisticated andaccurate ballistic missile of its range class in theworld. In June 2011, Agni-III has been inductedinto the armed forces and is under-production.

Though the first development trial of Agni-III carried out on July 9, 2006 could not achievethe desired result, subsequent tests conducted onApril 12, 2007, May 7, 2008 and February 7, 2010from the same base were all successful.

Agni-IV Missile:

India test-fired nuclear-capable strategicmissile Agni-IV with a strike range of about 4000km from a test range off Odisha coast. Agni-IVmissile is one of its kind and represents aquantum leap in terms of missile technology. Themissile is lighter in weight and has two stages ofsolid propulsion and a payload with re-entryheat shield. The missile, is undergoingdevelopmental trials by country•fs premierDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation.

Agni-V Missile:

India successfully test-fired Agni-V missile,a nuclear-capable missile, with a range of morethan 5,000 km. Agni-V is an intercontinentalballistic missile developed by the DRDO. Agni-V missile will be tested twice before end of year2013 to ensure it is ready for full-scale inductionin the armed forces towards end-2015.

With the launch of Agni-V, India has joineda small group of countries - up to now only thenuclear-armed superpowers - with inter-continental range ballistic missiles. The Agni-Vis capable of delivering a single 1.5-ton warhead

deep inside nuclear rival China’s territory. It is17.5m-tall, solid-fuelled, has three stages and alaunch weight of 50 tons.

Agni VI Missile:

DRDO announced the next version of Agnimissile, Agni VI. The new version will be capableof carrying multiple warheads besides having alonger range. Agni VI is likely to propel Indiainto the club of countries having inter-continentalballistic missiles (ICBMs). The missile, having astrike range of 8,000-10,000 km, will also havethe facility of a road launcher. While Agni-V cancarry up to three nuclear warheads, the numbercould be double or more than that in case of AgniVI. It is likely to be a three-stage missile. The trialmay come in mid-2014.

• Akash

Type: Medium range, surface-to-air missile.

Range: 25 km

Warhead: Pre-fragmented warheadactivated by proximity fuse.

Tested: First time on 14th August, 1990 atChandipur (Odisha)

Description: It is totally indigenous missile.The nodal agency which designed the Akash isDefence Research and Development Laboratory,Hyderabad. The weight of Akash is about 700kg and its length is 5.6 meters. This missile hadbetter features than its U.S. counterpart ‘Patriot.It is totally mobile and it can be launched from abattle tank. The Patriot has thrust only for 12seconds and then the coasting begins. But Akashhas thrust for 35 seconds.

It is a multi-target missile - can target four tofive enemy aircrafts and missiles at a time.Integrated with the indigenously producedphased array radar called Rajendra. It is capableof tracking many targets simultaneously. TheAkash system is comparable to the Patriot systemof the USA. India on May 24, 2012 successfullytest fired its two indigenously-developed surface-to-air •eAkash•f missiles of Air Force versionwith a strike range of 25 km from the IntegratedTest Range at Chandipur, Odisha.

• Nag

Type: Third generation, ‘fire and forget, anti-tank guided missile.


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Range: 4 km

Warhead: Tandem shaped charges

Propulsion: Solid propellant motor

Tested: First time on Nov. 24, 1990

Description: The missile is being developedto counter contemporary advances in tankarmour especially the very hard or the reactivetypes of armour. The missile is mounted on atracked vehicle equipped with Line of Sight(LOS) radar. The radar detects the target, passesthe information (image coordinates) to themissile. The missile then aligns its sight with thatof the LOS radar and blasts off.

Aerial Version of Nag: DRDO, incollaboration with HAL has developed an aerialversion of land based anti-tank Nag missile. Nag,an all weather, fire-and-forget anti-tank missileis one of the five developed by the DRDO underthe Integrated Guided Missile DevelopmentProgramme (IGMDP). The others are Akash,Trishul, Prithvi, and Agni, Nag which has beensuccessfully test-fired is the only of its kindhaving the range in line of sight-up to four km.It can cover the 4 km. distance in 20 seconds,travelling at a speed of 900 km an hour.

• Avatar:

Indian scientists have designed a reusablespace plane called ‘Avatar. This space plane canlaunch satellites at extremely low cost. Besides,it can also take tourists on a ride to space. Theman behind this low profile project is aircommander Raghavan Gopalswami; formerChairman of Hyderabad based Bharat DynamicsLimited and a pioneer in liquid propulsiontechnology. The project team which designedthis plane included Defence ResearchDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) and CimTechnologies. The unique design of Avatarenables it to be launched again and again upto100 times. Besides, it produces its own fuelduring the flight. Judging its popularity,applications have been filed in patent offices inthe United States, Germany, China and Russia.

• Trishul

Type: Short range, surface-to-air missile

Range: 300 m to 9 km

Warhead: A pre-fragmented warhead witha strike radius of 20m.

Propulsion: Single, solid compositepropellant

Tested: The short-range missile, Trishul, wasfirst tested on 5th June, 1989. The supersonicsurface-to-air missile could hit targets both in theair and on land within a distance of 300 metersto 9 km. The solid fuel propelled Trishul has acapacity to carry 15 kg of warhead and has beendeveloped to cater to the needs of all the threedefence services. The three meter long missile,having a diameter of 200 cm, is part of thecountry’s Integrated Guided MissileDevelopment Programme.

Description: It is being developed for all thethree services. The IAF will use it against lowflying aircraft while the Navy will use a modifiedversion against sea-skimming missiles like theAmerican Harpoon. The moment the enemyaircraft is within range, the missile will belaunched, maneuvered into the line of thetracking beam and guided all the way to thetarget. The Air Force version will be simpleexcept that the version designed for the Navywill contain an accurate altimeter in its sensorunit which will enable the missile to skim abovethe waves and intercept enemy missiles. TheTrishul has high manoeuvrability and ispowered by a two-stage solid propellant system,with a highly powered HTBP-type propellantsimilar to the ones used in the Patriot.

• Astra missile

Type: Air-to-air missile, beyond visual range(BVR) missile

Length: 3570 m

Body Diameter: 178 mm

Launch Weight: 154 kg.

Warhead: 15 kg pre-fragmented directional

Range: 80 km head on, 15 km tail chase

India on December 21, 2012 successfully testfired its indigenously developed Astra air-to-airinterceptor missile from a defence base inOdisha. The beyond-visual-range missile wastested from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) atChandipur, Odisha.

The Astra missile uses a terminal activeradar-seeker to find targets and a mid-courseinternal guidance system with updates, to track


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targets. The on-board ECCM capability allowsit to jam radar signals from an enemy surface-to-air battery, ensuring that the missile is nottracked or shot down. This indigenous missile isintended to have performance characteristicssimilar to the R-77RVV-AE (AA-12), whichcurrently forms part of the IAF•fs missilearmoury. The missile is 3.8 metres long and issaid to be configured like a longer version of theSuper 530D, narrower in front of the wings.Astra uses a HTPB solid-fuel propellant and a15 kg HE (high-explosive) warhead, activatedby a proximity fuse. The missile has a maximumspeed of Mach 4+ and a maximum altitude of20 km.

OTHER MISSILE PROJECTS

Surya: Inter- Continental missile with rangeof 5000 km is in process of development.

Sagarika: Cruise missile to be launched fromsea. Its range will be some 100 km.

• Light Combat Aircraft

The Government of India in 1984 decided toestablish the Aeronautical Development Agency(ADA) to manage the Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) programme. Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL) was the principal partner withparticipation of various DRDO & CSIRLaboratories.

On 22nd January 2009 Light CombatAircraft Tejas completed 1000 flights. On 29thApril, 2012, the Naval version of the LightCombat Aircraft Tejas, made its maiden flightfrom the HAL airport in Bangalore. This was asignificant milestone in the history of IndianAviation in designing a naval variant of a fighteraircraft. On 22nd February, 2013, the LCA tookpart in the Iron Fist Exercise in Pokhran,Jaisalmer and on 31st March, 2013, the TejasLight Combat Aircraft, LSP-8 accomplished itsmaiden flight from HAL airport.

LSP 8: After having received the FlightReadiness Review Board’s (FRRB) clearance forthe flight, the most advanced edition of India’sLight Combat Aircraft’s (LCA)—Tejas—limitedseries production-8 (LSP-8) completed its maidenflight on 31st March 2013. The LSP-8, along withLSP-7 are the configurations marked for theInitial Operational Clearance-2 (IOC-2). LSP-8is the last aircraft in the Limited Series

Production programme.

Planned Product Variants

Tejas Trainer : Two-seat operationalconversion trainer for the Indian Air Force.

Tejas Navy : Twin- and single-seat carrier-capable variants for the Indian Navy. The LCA’snaval variant is to be ready for carrier trials by2013 and is slated for deployment on the INSVikramaditya as well as the Vikrant class aircraftcarrier.

Future Development

Tejas Mark 2 - Featuring more powerfulGeneral Electric F414-GE-INS6 engine with98Kn thrust and refined aerodynamics. TheMark 2 is being developed to meet the IndianAir Staff requirements.

Other Achievements in Defence Production

• MBT-Arjun:

India's Main Battle Tank (MBT), Arjun,indigenously designed and developed by DRDOand Combat Vehicle Research DevelopmentEstablishment (CVRDE), Avadi was dedicatedto the nation in January 1996.

Arjun weighs 58 tonnes and hence falls inthe main battle tank category (above 50 tonnes).Medium battle tanks are in the weight range of35 to 40 tonnes. The Russian T-72 M-1 (42 tonnes)and Vijayanta (38 tonnes) come under thiscategory. The 58.5 tonnes Arjun with state-of-the art technology, superior fire power, mobilityand high speed (72 kmph on roads and 40 kmphon rocky terrain), and weapon system has beendesigned to meet Indian Army•fs most stringentspecifications. It is rated among top MBTs in theworld. The satellite based Global PositioningSystem (GPS) can facilitate the Arjun to find itsgeographical grid in barren areas and in thedark.

• Bhishma:

The T-90S, named ‘Bhishma’ is highlyversatile and state-of-the-art tank and assembledfrom important semi-knocked down units at theHeavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi. The features ofthis tank are the following:

1. Its mobility, lethal fire power, surprise hit-at-first sight and self-protection.


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2. Its enhanced mobility, ballistic computersfor sight and accuracy and capability tofire all types of ammunition in addition tofiring guided missiles.

3. The tank has superior armour protectionwith its explosive reactor armour panel andalso has protection against nuclear,biological and chemical weapons.

• Lakshya:

‘Lakshya’ the Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA),is a sophisticated unmanned aircraft. It has beendesigned and developed to simulate realistic airthreats and to mimic the radars and infra-redsignals. It will be used to impart training forsurface-to-air, air-to-air missiles and gun firing.This aircraft can be launched either from groundor a ship using a rocket and is powered duringflight by a turbo jet engine.

Lakshya, with a sub-sonic speed of 0.7 Machin clean configuration and 0.54 mach in ‘onestow one tow’ configuration could climb upto 9km. in clean configuration and 6 km with twobodies at a rate of 35 m/s at sea level. It has afuel capacity of 190 kg and can tolerate a weightupto 630 kg. It can float above sea for 3 to 4 hourson a parachute until it is retrieved by a helicopterand minimum altitude possible is 300 m.

• Nishant:

India’s indigenous Remotely Piloted Vehicle(RPV) ‘Nishant’, is intended for battlefieldsurveillance and reconnaissance roles andincorporates advanced designed featurecomparable or superior to those developedelsewhere in the world. It can carry a 45 kgpayload, travel at a speed of 150 kmph and flymore than five hours. It can be controlled fromthe ground for distances upto 160 km and canalso be programmed for an autonomous flight.Its detection on radar is difficult as it is madeentirely of fibre reinforced glass.

• Pinaka:

To build up ground support for Indian army,DRDO has developed lethal ground basedmultibarrel rocket launcher weapon system,‘Pinaka’. Pinaka is a mobile weapon systemcharacterized by capability to deliver saturationfire over targets not engageable by artillery guns.It has a range of 39 km and has a capability offire upto 12 rockets within seconds. It can launch

a variety of warheads. The system has a quickreaction time, high accuracy and excellent mobilecharacteristics. It consists of a launcher rocket,replenishment-cum loader vehicle and acommand post vehicle. Pinaka is said to becontemporary with other systems of its class thathave been developed or are being developedanywhere in the world.

• Dhanush:

On October 5, 2012 India successfully test-fired nuclear capable Dhanush, the naval versionof Prithvi short-range ballistic missile, from awarship off Odisha coast. The indigenouslydeveloped Prithvi missile has a strike range ofup to 350 km and can carry 500kg ofconventional or nuclear warhead. Developed bythe DRDO, the missile is about 8.53 metre inlength and 0.9 metre in diameter. This single stagemissile uses liquid propellant. The Dhanushmissile can be used as an anti-ship weapon aswell as for destroying land targets depending onthe range. The naval variant was first tested on11 April 2000 from one of the Indian Navy’sSukanya Class vessels. Inter-Continental missilewas designed and formulated by Indian Scientistunder the guidance of Dr. Abdul Kalam.

Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH):

ALH is a twin engined cost effective, multi-purpose and multi-role helicopter with ruggeddesign to meet the stringent requirements of thearmed forces. It has been designed and developedby the HAL, Bangalore. It incorporates state ofthe art technology to meet the diverse operationalrequirements of the Air Force, Navy and theArmy. It has a maximum continuous speed of290 kmph and a cruise speed of 245 kmph. Ithas a range of 800 km and an endurance of fourhours with a 20 minute reserve.

• Hans-3:

Training aircraft is developed by scientists ofNational Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore on11 May, 1998. This aircraft is made of light andstrong Fibre Glass with a total weight of 750 kg.

• Sukhoi-30:

It is a fighter aircraft produced by Russia.Recently India and Russia signed a pact, in whichRussia will give 30 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft andits technology to India. Its minimum flying range


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is 3000 km. It is one of the world’s most modernfighter aircraft.

• Saina:

This is a modern Torpedo developed byNaval Science and Technology laboratory,Vishakhapatnam. This Torpedo has capabilityto be launched from both Helicopter and Ship.With 35 kmph and 200 kg weight, can attack ona 2.7 m long and on 6 km away target.

• Pichora:

Surface to air missile is in process ofdevelopment. This missile technology is importedfrom Russia.

• Sarath:

Sarath is the Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV)which has been developed by the Indianscientists to carry and launch Trishul, Akash andNag missiles.

Brahmos Missile

It is a cruise missile, jointly developed byIndia and Russia under an agreement signed in1998. It has a range of 290 km and can deliverpayload of 300 kg over 3 times the speed ofsound. It can effectively engage targets from analtitude as low as 10 metres and has a top speedof Mach 2.8, which is about three times fasterthan the US-made subsonic Tomahawk cruisemissile.

The name Brahmos has been derived fromBrahmaputra and Moskva river of Russia. Thecompany has established with an authorizedcapital of $250 million with 50.5 per cent fromIndian side and 49.5 per cent from Russian side.BrahMos Aerospace was formed as a jointventure between DRDO and Military IndustrialConsortium NPO Mashinostroeyenia of Russia.The missile can be installed on ships, submarines,aircraft and ground vehicles. BrahMos missilesare inducted in to the armed forces of India andRussia and can also be exported to friendlynations.

Sea and ground-launched versions havebeen successfully tested and put into service withthe Indian Army and Navy. The flight tests ofthe airborne version will be completed by the endof 2012.

Propulsion: BrahMos is powered by a two-stage propulsion system. Initial acceleration isprovided by a solid-propellant booster andsupersonic cruise speed is provided by a liquid-fuelled ramjet system. The air-breathing ramjetpropulsion is more fuel-efficient in comparisonwith conventional rocket propulsion. It providesthe BrahMos with a longer range over similarmissiles powered by rocket propulsion.

Two advantages of missile:

1. It is highly accurate and can be guidedto the target with the help of on-boardcomputers.

2. It travels at supersonic speed in a sea-skimming profile.

Supersonic BrahMos

India on May 21, 2013 successfully test-firedthe 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruisemissile from the Navy’s latest guided missilefrigate INS Tarkash off the Goa coast. The missileperformed the high-level ‘C’ manoeuvre in thepre-determined flight path and successfully hitthe target. The launch was carried out by theNavy as part of Acceptance Test Firing (ATF) ofthe ship. The vertical launch configuration of thesupersonic missile enhances the stealthcapabilities of the ship as the missiles are underthe deck and not exposed.

Brahmos-II

A hypersonic version of the missile namelyBrahMos-II is also presently under developmentwith speed of Mach 5 to Mach 7 to boost aerialfast strike capability. It is expected to be readyfor testing by 2017. During the cruise stage offlight the missile will be propelled by a scramjetairbreathing jet engine.

Stealth Technology: It is a technology thatmakes an aircraft invisible or less visible to theradars. It involves superior design of aircraft anduse of advanced materials that makes the surfaceof aircraft less reflective and absorbs theelectromagnetic waves produced by Radar.

Indigenous Air Defence System: Anindigenous DRDO-developed air defence systemwith a centralized command, control andcommunication structure and linked to severalmission (control) units throughout the countryto detect all incoming missile and enemy aircraft.


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‘Silent’ Radar

India has developed low-probabilityintercept radar that cannot be detected by anincoming aircraft and can escape from an anti-radiation missile attack. The radar for navalapplications has been developed by BharatElectronics Limited (BEL).

This is different in the sense that a normalradar sends out a warning to incoming air craftthat is being tracked. “The low probabilityintercept radar developed by BEL does theradiation in a special way at a very low level ofpower.” Dubbed as “Silent radar”, it can besaved from anti-radiation missile attack by theaircraft since it cannot be detected by the aircraft.The main features of the new radar are: nilpersonal hazard, high resolution, fully solid stateand low power consumption.

SUPERSONIC INTERCEPTORMISSILE OF INDIA

India rides new high with successfullyconducting a test of new supersonic interceptormissile off the Orissa coast, on 22nd November,2012. India successfully test-fired anindigenously developed supersonic interceptormissile, capable of destroying a hostile ballisticmissile, from a test range off the Odisha coast.India is working towards development of a multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defence system. The 'hostile'ballistic missile, a modified surface- to-surface'Prithvi', mimicking an incoming enemy weapon,first lifted off from a mobile launcher from thelaunch complex-3 of integrated test range (ITR)at Chandipur-on-Sea, about 15 km fromBalasore.

Within about four minutes, the interceptor,Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile positionedat Wheeler Island, about 70 km from Chandipur,after getting signals from tracking radars, roaredthrough its trajectory to destroy the incomingmissile mid-air, in an "endo-atmospheric"altitude. The interceptor is a 7.5-metre-longsingle-stage solid rocket propelled guided missileequipped with a navigation system, a hi-techcomputer and an electro-mechanical activator.The interceptor missile had its own mobilelauncher, secure data link for interception,independent tracking and homing capabilities,besides sophisticated radars.

The system is in fact slightly better thanPatriot Advanced Capability - (PAC-3) of the USin terms of interception, altitude and rangeagainst incoming ballistic missiles. The aim andobjective of the exercise was to test the missile’sability to provide an air-shield (cover) toimportant Indian metros against hostile attacks.Besides, the missile would be moved closer to theIndio-Pak and Sino-Indian borders during crisisor wartime.

Missile Technology Control Regime

The MTCR (Missile Technology ControlRegime) grew out of arrangements entered intoin the East-West conventional arms talks of the1970s. It became a formal but non-treatyarrangement in 1987 and currently has about34 members/adherents. Its purpose is to controlthe technology and export of items that couldbe used to produce a missile capable of carryinga nuclear warhead. MTCR guidelines apply tomissiles with ranges longer than 300 km. andpayloads greater than 500 kg. The guidelinesincorporate a list of items to be controlled.However, national export decisions are notsubject to group review or sanctions. Export ofmunitions items are denied to non-members withappropriate assurances from the government ofthe importing country. The MTCR originallyformulated by the G-7 nations for restrictingtransfer of critical technology classified ascategory I (greatest sensitivity) and category II(least sensitivity). The cryogenic enginetechnology falls under category I of the MTCRlist of controlled technologies and the transfertherefore goes against what the guidelines seekto prevent and ‘curb’, in the language of MTCRguidelines, “the dangerous proliferation ofmissile technology by non-members”. India isneither member nor adherent of the MTCR.

SUBMARINES & SHIPS

• INS Chakra:

With the induction of Nerpa, rechristenedINS Chakra, into the Indian Navy in April 2012,India is back in the elite club of nations havingnuclear-powered submarines. INS Chakra is aRussia-made, nuclear-propelled, hunter-killersubmarine. The Akula Class submarine willcarry conventional weapons. The vessel is armedwith four 533 mm torpedo tubes and four


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650mm torpedo tubes. It will be used to huntand kill enemy ships. The INS Chakra displacesabout 10,000 tons. It can do over 30 knots - morethan twice the speed of conventional submarines.It can go upto a depth of 600 metres. It is one ofthe quietest nuclear submarines around, withnoise levels next to zero.

INS Chakra has been taken on lease fromRussia for 10 years and would provide the Navythe opportunity to train personnel and operatesuch nuclear-powered vessels. In 2004, India hadsigned a deal with Russia worth over $900 millionfor leasing the submarine. The only other nationspossessing nuclear-powered submarines are -US, Russia, UK, France and China. India is backin this elite club after over a decade.

• INS Arihant:

India reached a milestone with the launchof the country’s first nuclear submarine, INSArihant at Visakhapatnam. Code-namedAdvanced Technology Vessel (ATV), thesubmarine was launched for sea trials at theMatsya naval dockyard in Vishakhapatnam.With the launch, India joined the exclusive clubof US, Russia, China, France and the UK withsimilar capabilities. Symbolically the Arihant waslaunched on 26th July 2009, the anniversary ofVijay Diwas (Kargil War Victory Day).

As India has declared “no first use” ofnuclear weapons, the country’s weapons systemmust survive a first strike for retaliation.Therefore, Arihant’s primary weapon is stealthas it can lurk in ocean depths of half a kilometreor more and fire its missiles from under the sea.The induction of ATV will help India to completethe nuclear weapons triad, as envisaged underits nuclear doctrine to deliver nuke-tippedmissiles from land, air and sea.

Key facts

• The Rs. 30,000-crore secret nuclearsubmarine project was started in the1980s though it was conceived by thenPrime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s.

• It can acquire surface speeds of 22 to 28kmph and would carry a crew of 95 menand will be armed with torpedoes andmissiles including 12 ballistic missiles.

• INS Arihant can also be armed with cruisemissiles. The DRDO is already working

on Sagarika project for a 700-km missile,capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

• INS Trikand:

INS Trikand, the last of the three “Follow OnTalwar Class” frigates built in the RussianFederation, was commissioned into the IndianNavy on 29 June 2013 at Kaliningrad, Russia. The commissioning of INS Trikand marks theculmination of a three ship contract for “FollowOn Talwar Class” ships built in Russia, and istherefore a milestone in the Indo-Russianmilitary-technological cooperation. The otherships of the class viz, INS Teg and INS Tarkashwere commissioned in 2012 and are nowundertaking operations as part of the WesternFleet. The keel of INS Trikand was laid on 11June 2008 and the ship was launched on 25 May2011. Extensive Acceptance trials wereconducted in the Baltic Sea in April and May2013.

INS Trikand carries a state-of-the-art combatsuite which includes the supersonic BRAHMOSmissile system, advanced Surface to Air missilesShtil, upgraded A190 medium range gun.

• INS Vikrant (2013):

It is the first vikrant-class aircraft carrier builtby Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navyand the first Aircraft Carrier built in India.Construction is expected to be completed by 2016and the ship is due to be commissioned in 2018.

• INS Viraat:

After retirement of Vikrant, Virat isperforming as the main guard of Indian coastline.This ship has more capacity than Vikrant.Produced by the name of Harmiz, Virat wascommissioned in Indian Navy on 12th May,1987. After the upgrades, INS Viraat would beavailable for use till 2018.

• INS Delhi:

Indigenously made ballistic warship,commissioned in Navy on 15 November 1997. Ithas weight of 6700 tonnes. It is 163m long, 70 mwide and 6.4m high warship.

• INS Prahar:

World’s fastest missile ship, commissioned inIndian Navy on 1 March, 1997.


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• Warship Ghariyal:

Water surface attacker warship.

• INS Mysore:

Indian Navy’s most modernized indigenouslybuilt warship.

• INS Vikramaditya:

It is a modified Kiev class aircraft carrier setto enter service with the Indian Navy andcommissioned by November, 2013. It waspurchased from Russia after retro-fitment for$2.35 billion.

• INS Sagardhwani:

INS Sagardhwani (A 74) is a marine acousticresearch ship (MARS) based at Southern NavalCommand, Kochi. The ship was launched inMay 1991, and commissioned in 1994. The shipwas built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders,Kolkata.

• Sindhughosh-class submarine:

Sindhughosh class submarines are Kilo classdiesel-electric submarines in active service withthe Indian Navy.

• Sagar Nidhi

India’s deep sea exploration received a majorboost with the induction of “Sagar Nidhi”, amulti-purpose scientific vessel, acquired by theNational Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT),on 3rd March, 2008. The Rs 232-crore ship wasbuilt by Italian company Fincantieri, was avirtual floating laboratory and would be usedfor deep sea exploration and oceanographicstudies. The Ice-class vessel was capable ofundertaking deep sea explorations upto 45 days.

The vessel, which had taken part in a searchand rescue operation in Red Sea during itsmaiden voyage from Italy to India, was alsocapable of cruising to Arctic and Antarcticregions. The multi-purpose vessel would be usedby the scientists and engineers of NIOT, IndianNational Centre for Ocean Information Services(INCOIS) at Hyderabad and National Centre forAntarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa.Sagar Nidhi would fill the void experienced byIndian scientists till now for deep seaexplorations.

DEFENCE RESEARCH IN INDIA

• Food:

The Defence Food Laboratory and theCentral Food Technological Research Institute(CFTRI), Mysore of CSIR, have developed variousproducts, processes preservatives and flexiblepackaging materials. The products includepreserved chapattis, compressed ready to eatbars, preserved bread, canned Indian dishes,quick cooking foods, survival ration, and frozendried products. They had also modified existingtest methods and developed new analyticaltechniques to monitor the quality of foodproducts. Chapattis packaged in paper foillaminate pouches could be preserved for sixmonths.

• Aeronautics

In the area of aeronautics, the impetus hascome from the defence project of Light CombatAircraft (LCA) being executed by theautonomous Aeronautics Development Agencyin Bangalore. The first military strike aircraftdeveloped in the country was HF 24 (Marut).

The Aeronautical DevelopmentEstablishment (ADE), and Gas Turbine ResearchEstablishment (GTRE) in the Ministry of Defenceand National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL) inthe CSIR were set up and their area of researchwere defined. While the NAL was asked toconduct R & D mainly related to the aircraft ofthe flight vehicle, GTRE was asked to concentrateon the development of prototypes of advancedtechnology gas turbines and ADE was directedto concentrate on the aircraft systems and suchother tasks as may be given to it from time suchas simulators, pilotless target aircraft, remotelypiloted vehicles etc. The country is also involvedin developing an Airborne Warning and ControlSystems (AWACS) aircraft and several missileprogrammes.

Major products manufactured at the HALare: Jaguar, Kiran, MIG, BIS, MIG 27 M and HBT32 aircraft, Chetak and Cheetah helicopters, aeroengines for various aircraft avionics, accessoriesand instruments, forgings and castings and partsrequired for space programme of the IndianSpace Research Organisation. HAL is a majorparticipant in the LCA development program.


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• Electronics Warfare

Electronic Warfare (EW) is the focal themeof the Defence Electronics Research Laboratory,Hyderabad. The laboratory is engaged in severaltechnique-oriented investigations in the EW areawhile developing hardware systems to meet therequirements of the services.

The Defence Science Centre (DSC) and Solidstate Physics Laboratory (SPL), both at Delhi, arethe two upstream laboratories engaged in ananticipatory research as well as engineeringdevelopment in the field of solid state materialsand devices. Several state of the art technologiessuch as gallium-arsenide devices, infra reddetector arrays, charge coupled devices, acousto-optic devices, YAG laser crystals and gas lasersources are being developed. SPL has developedsilicon solar cells which are likely to be used bythe Indian Space Research Organisation. Severalferrite and garnet materials have been developedfor microwave applications.

• Ocean Science

The Naval Physical and OceanographyLaboratory (NPOL), Kochi, has made significantcontributions in understanding the oceanenvironment knowledge that is essential to thedevelopment of underwater sensors and weaponsystems. Oceanographic instruments developedby the laboratory are being used extensively tocollect data in respect of speed and direction ofocean currents, attention of visible light in thesea, sea wave and tidal records, and the soundvelocity profile. The expendable bathythermograph, developed by the laboratory, isbeing used by naval ships to determine thevariation of temperature with depth, a factorcritical to the underwater fire control problem.

The Naval Chemical and MetallurgicalLaboratory (NCML), Mumbai, provides the navywith technology inputs that help protect thehulls of ships and submarines from corrosion andthe hostile sea water environment. The laboratoryhas successfully developed underwateranticorrosive and antifouling paints in additionto the cathodic protection technology.

• Life Sciences

In the field of health, the Institute of NuclearMedicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi,has developed expertise in the areas of

radiopharmaceutical, radioimmunoassay,radiobiology, health physics bioengineering andexperimental medicine. It renders medical adviceto the members of the armed forces as well as toothers. The concept of radio iodine split dosetherapy in the management of hyperthyroidismintroduced by the institute’s prestigious ThyroidResearch Centre has been well accepted in Indiaand abroad.

The Defence Research and DevelopmentEstablishment (DRDE), Gwalior is concernedmainly with toxicology and environmentalpollution of importance to the defence services.It has devised procedures for identifyingbacteriolysis principle, capable of producing1,250 litres of potable water per hour frombrackish water.

The Defence Bio-Engineering and ElectroMedical laboratory at Bangalore studiesproblems related to bio engineering aspects ofaviation, and also develops medical electronicinstrumentation. Anti-G suits, oxygen masks andprotective helmets have been developed by thisunit. An automatic inflatable life jacket is beingdesigned. In the field of electro medicalinstrumentation, a variety of equipment forpatient monitoring cardiac care, cardiacpacemaker etc., have been developed. Presently,a medical data processing and automaticdiagnosis system is under development.

• Weapon System

The Defence Research and DevelopmentLaboratory (DRDL) at Hyderabad has built upthe technological base and facilities required fordesigning, developing and testing the diversesubsystems of guided missiles.

The Combat Vehicle Research andDevelopment Establishment (VRDE) at Avadinear Chennai has been entrusted with the taskof developing the Main Battle Tanks (MBT) toserve the Army in the late 1980s and 1990s.CVRDE is the system co-ordinator of this majorproject involving the cooperative efforts ofseveral defence laboratories. In addition CVRDEhas direct development responsibility coveringvehicle design, its propulsion unit and auxiliarysystems. The establishment is also engaged in thedevelopment of other armoured vehicle variantsto fulfill different operational roles.


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The Armament Research and DevelopmentEstablishment (ARDE) at Pune has a long recordof over twenty-five years of successfuldevelopment of armaments required by the threeservices. Some of the important armamentdesigned by ARDE which have been inductedinto service are the well known Ishapore Riflewith its ammunition, 75/24 pack Howitzer andits ammunition for use in the mountainousregions, 105 mm Indian field Gun, unguidedrockets for air to ground use. Currently ARDEis actively engaged in the development of a FinStabilized Armour piercing Discarding Sabot, afamily of small arms with matching ammunition,a powerful gun for the Main Battle Tank, rapidfire multi barrel rocket system and several moreweapons. A special explosive bore-hole chargedeveloped by ARDE has been utilized by the Oiland Natural Gas Commission in petroleumexploration. Armament design is amultidisciplinary effort and for this purposesARDE maintains a continuous interaction withother defence establishments.

BIOLOGICAL ANDCHEMICAL WEAPONS

Like a nuclear bomb, a chemical or biologicalweapon is a weapon of mass destruction. Aneffective attack using a chemical or biologicalagent can easily kill thousands of people.

Biological warfare (BW) — also known asgerm warfare — is the deliberate use of disease-causing biological agents such as bacteria,viruses, fungi, or biological toxins, to kill orincapacitate humans, animals or plants as an actof war. Biological weapons are living organismsor replicating entities (viruses) that reproduce orreplicate within their host victims.

Offensive biological warfare, including massproduction, stockpiling and use of biologicalweapons, was outlawed by the 1972 BiologicalWeapons Convention (BWC). The rationalebehind this treaty, which has been ratified oracceded to by 170 countries as of April 2013, isto prevent a biological attack which couldconceivably result in large numbers of civilianfatalities and cause severe disruption to economicand societal infrastructure. Many countries,including signatories of the BWC, currently

pursue research into the defense or protectionagainst BW, which is not prohibited by the BWC.

In 1972, the United States signed theBiological and Toxic Weapons Convention,which banned the “development, productionand stockpiling of microbes or their poisonousproducts except in amounts necessary forprotective and peaceful research.”

A chemical weapon is any weapon that usesa manufactured chemical to kill people. The firstchemical weapon used effectively in battle waschlorine gas, which burns and destroys lungtissue.

Modern chemical weapons tend to focus onagents with much greater killing power,meaning that it takes a lot less of the chemical tokill the same number of people. Many of themuse the sorts of chemicals found in insecticides.

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)is an arms control agreement which outlaws theproduction, stockpiling and use of chemicalweapons. Its full name is the Convention on theProhibition of the Development, Production,Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons andon their Destruction. The main obligation underthe convention is the prohibition of use andproduction of chemical weapons, as well as thedestruction of all chemical weapons.

IAF’S VISION 2020

The Indian Air Force (IAF) in its recently heldpresentation entitled ‘Vision 2020’ made severalsuggestions of strategic importance to theGovernment. Primarily it suggested theformation of a nuclear air command even as itseeks two front capability and enhanced forcelevels in the years to come. The presentation waspath-breaking since it advocated that thecountry’s strategic resources be placed under thenuclear air command because only the IAF hadthe required delivery platforms-meaning thestrategic reach aircraft. According to the IAF,the Army did not need and in fact might notneed a nuclear role because of the incongruityof tactical nuclear weapons in India’s draftnuclear doctrine. The third leg of the triad;nuclear submarine was still beyond the IndianNavy’s reach. The vision documentrecommended that as soon as the ‘Agni’


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Public Sector Undertakings Under the Ministry of Defence

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)• Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML)• Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL)• Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE)• Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL)• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)• Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI)

Other Organizations in Department of Defence Production are:

• Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA)• Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA)• Directorate of Standardisation (DOS)• Directorate of Planning and Coordination (Dte. of P&C)• Defence Exhibition Organisation (DEO)• National Institute for Research & Development in Defence Shipbuilding (NIRDESH)

intermediate range ballistic missile becameoperational, it should be given the nuclear aircommand as the range of the ‘Prithvi’ missilewas too short to qualify as a nuclear weapon

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delivery platform. This future defence strategyis a step ahead from the present stanceof deterrence for Pakistan and dissuasion forChina.


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Energy is one of the most important buildingblock in human development, and, as such, actsas a key factor in determining the economicdevelopment of all countries. In an effort to meetthe demands of a developing nation, the Indianenergy sector has witnessed a rapid growth.Areas like the resource exploration andexploitation, capacity additions, and energysector reforms have been revolutionized.However, resource augmentation and growthin energy supply have failed to meet the everincreasing demands exerted by the multiplyingpopulation, rapid urbanization and progressingeconomy. Hence, serious energy shortagescontinue to plague India, forcing it to rely heavilyon imports.

India is the fourth largest consumer ofenergy in the world after USA, China and Russiabut it is not endowed with abundant energyresources. It must, therefore, meet itsdevelopment needs by using all availabledomestic resources of coal, uranium, oil, hydroand other renewable resources, andsupplementing domestic production by imports.

High reliance on imported energy is costlygiven the prevailing energy prices which are notlikely to soften; it also impinges adversely onenergy security. Meeting the energy needs ofachieving 8 per cent 9 per cent economic growthwhile also meeting energy requirements of thepopulation at affordable prices thereforepresents a major challenge.

Social, economic and scientific developmentsare directly linked to the development of energyresources. However, the present stock of energyresources of the world is limited and can lastonly for a few decades. Moreover mostconventional energy sources are non-renewable.Hence, mankind is searching new source ofenergy and the development of renewablesources of energy along with the rational use ofexisting non-renewable energy and theirconservation.

ENERGY SOURCES IN INDIA

Energy resources are classified intoconventional and non conventional forms on thebasis of their use. Conventional or non-renewable sources are those especially comingfrom the fossils and which cannot be re-used onceexhausted like coal, petroleum, wood, etc.However non-conventional or renewablesources, as the name suggests are inexhaustiblepool of energy, ready at every moment to be usedor re-used like tidal energy, wind energy,biomass energy, etc.

Establishment of new generation capacityand reducing cost of power will require actionon many fronts:

• Availability of fuel such as coal or naturalgas for new power plants must be assured;

• A national consensus on royalty rates forfuels and compensation for host states alsoneeds to be worked;

• Long term finance should be madeavailable to lower capital charge;

• The presently provided guaranteed rate ofpost tax returns for CPSUs should belowered to reduce cost of power andaugment resources of state power utilities;

• An efficient inter-state and intra-statetransmission system of adequate capacitythat is capable of transferring power fromone region to another;

• An efficient distribution system which alonecan ensure financially viable expansion;

• Rehabilitation of thermal stations throughR&M to augment generating capacity andimprove PLF;

• Rehabilitation of hydro stations to yieldadditional peaking capacity;

• Ensuring use of washed coal for powergeneration; and

• Harnessing captive capacity to support thegrid.

ENERGY RESOURCESCHRONICLEIAS ACADEMYA CIVIL SERVICES CHRONICLE INITIATIVE


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1. Coal & Lignite

Coal is the mainstay of India’s energy sectoraccounting for over 50 per cent of primarycommercial energy supply in 2010–11. Thisshare will actually increase to 57 per cent overthe next 10 years. The gap between the demandand the domestic supply of coal has made itimperative to augment domestic production bothfrom the public sector and the private sector andto expedite the reform process for realisingefficiency gains through increased competitionin the sector during the 12th Plan.

An important feature of the 11th Plan wasthe attempt to augment domestic coalproduction from captive mines. However, theprogramme slipped and expected productionfrom captive blocks fell well short of theprojected target of 104 million tonnes in theterminal year of the Plan.

The target for coal production at the end ofthe 11th Plan was initially set at 680 milliontonnes and revised downwards to 630 milliontones at the time of the MTA. The actualachievement was only 540 million tonnes. Sincedemand in the terminal year (2011–12) of the11th Plan was around 640 million tonnes therewas a large demand–supply gap of 100 milliontonnes which was only partially met by imports.This adversely affected the coal supplies to endconsumers, particularly the power sector.

It is estimated that out of capacity additionof 41,894 MW, around 25,000 MW of coal-basedcapacity commissioned is being sub-optimallyutilized because of inadequate availability ofdomestic coal. The widening gap betweendemand and supply has to be met by importsbecause of which the share of imports in the totalcoal demand is likely to increase.

As on March 31, 2012 the estimated reservesof coal was around 293.5 billion tones, anaddition of 7.64 billion over the last year. Therehas been an increase of 2.67 per cent in theestimated coal reserves during the year 2011-12with Madhya Pradesh accounting for themaximum increase of 5.41 per cent.

Coal deposits are mainly confined to easternand south central parts of the country. The statesof Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, WestBengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra andMadhya Pradesh account for more than 99% ofthe total coal reserves in the country.

The estimated reserve of lignite was 41.96billion tonnes against 40.91 billion tonnes in2011. The increase in the estimated reserve oflignite during the year 2011-12 was 1.22 per cent,Tamil Nadu accounting for the maximumincrease of 2.99 per cent.

Domestic production of coal and ligniteaccount for two-third of total production ofcommercial energy in 2000–01 and is projectedto be about the same in 2021–22. As a percentageof total consumption of commercial energy, theshare of coal and lignite was projected to increaseto 57 per cent, from a level of 50 per cent in2000–01.

2. Oil and Gas

Petroleum is derived from dead animals thatlived in remote past. Natural gas has also beenproduced in the Earth’s crust by similar processesand this is also a combustible fuel. Theexploitation of oil on a large scale really startedafter 1860, the year when the first commercialwell is reported to have come into existence. Withthe discovery of oil and its refined products suchas gasoline and diesel, new engines andmachines came into existence and productivityincreased. Indeed, this was a period of theindustrial revolution. Oil and its derivedproducts are very convenient and versatile asfuels and can be easily transported.

In India, efforts made by the Oil and NaturalGas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India since thelate 1950s have led to the identification of anumber of oil and gas deposits both offshore andonshore. The onshore fields were mainlydiscovered in the Mumbai, Gujarat, Assam andArunachal Pradesh; and the offshore fields inthe sea were notably the Mumbai High fieldssuch as North and South Basin and South Tapti.Oil and gas has also been discovered in theGodavari Basin and on the East Coast.

The new exploration strategy placesemphasis on intensive exploration survey anddrilling in order to add to petroleum reserves andto augment production as early as possible. Inorder to meet burgeoning demand for petroleumproducts in the country, the Ministry ofPetroleum & Natural Gas has taken severalmeasures to enhance exploration andexploitation of petroleum resources includingnatural gas and Coal Bed Methane (CBM), apartfrom improved distribution, marketing andpricing of petroleum products.


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During the financial year 2011-12, crude oilproduction was about 38.09 million metric tonne(MMT), with share of national oil companies at72.4 per cent. The projected crude oil productionin 2012-13 was about 41.12 MMT which is about8 per cent higher than the previous year crudeoil production. The increase in crude oilproduction is mainly due to higher crude oilproduction from Barmer Fields, Rajasthan.

The average natural gas production in theyear 2011-12 was about 130 million metricstandard cubic metre per day (MMSCMD) whichwas about 9 per cent lower than the previousyear mainly due to lower production from KGD6 deepwater block. The projected natural gasproduction in 2012-13 is about 118.3 MMSCMD,which was about 9 per cent lower than theprevious year.

The Indian refinery capacity as on August1, 2012 was 215.08 MMT which was expectedto reach to 218.40 MMT by the end of 2012-13.Refinery production (crude throughput) during2011-12 was 211.42 MMT (including crudethroughput by RIL SEZ Refinery). At present,there are 22 refineries (17 under Public Sector, 3under private sector and 2 in joint venture) inIndia.

Natural gas is emerging as an importantsource in India’s commercial energy scene inview of large reserves of gas that have beenestablished in the country, particularly, in SouthBasin off West Coast of India. Natural gas is alsomaking significant contribution to the householdsector by way of LPG extracted from associatedgas. About 30 per cent of the country’s outputof LPG comes from this source.

The Dabhol-Bengaluru gas pipeline wascommissioned by GAIL on February 18, 2013.The 1,000 kms pipeline, built at a cost of Rs. 4,500crore, will carry gas from Dabhol LNG terminalinto Bengaluru and feed industries in Belgaum,Dharwad, Gadag, Bellary, Davangere,Chitradurg, Tumkur, Ramanagram andBengaluru.

India is highly dependent on import of crudeoil. Both gross and net imports of crude oil haveincreased from 11.68 MTs during 1970-71 to171.73 MTs during 2011-12. There has been anannual increase of 4.97 per cent during 2011-12over 2010-11, as the net import increased from

163.60 MTs to 171.73 MTs. Although more than70% of its crude oil requirements and part of thepetroleum products is met from imports, Indiahas developed sufficient processing capacity overthe years to produce different petroleumproducts so as to become a net exporter ofpetroleum products. The import of petroleumproducts increased from only 1.08 MT in 1970-71 to 15.00 MT during 2011-12. However, therewas a decline of 10.82% in import of petroleumproducts over the previous year.

Share of oil in total commercial energyconsumption is expected to decline from 37.5 percent in 2000–01 to 23.3 per cent in 2021–22, theshare of natural gas and liquefied natural gas(LNG) is projected to rise from 8.5 per cent to 13per cent in the same period. The combined shareof oil and natural gas in energy consumptionwas 24.7 per cent in 2011–12 and is expected tobe about the same in 2021–22.

The estimated reserves of crude oil in Indiaas on March 31, 2012 stood at 759.59 milliontonnes (MT). Geographical distribution of Crudeoil indicates that the maximum reserves are inthe Western Offshore (44.46%) followed byAssam (22.71%), whereas the maximum reservesof Natural Gas are in the Eastern Offshore(34.73%) followed by Western offshore (31.62%).There was an increase of 0.29 per cent in theestimated reserve of crude oil for the country asa whole during 2011-12. There was an increaseof estimated Crude Oil reserves by 7.09 per centin Andhra Pradesh followed by Tamil Nadu(4.48%).

The estimated reserves of natural gas in Indiaas on March 31, 2012 stood at 1330.26 billioncubic meters (BCM). In case of Natural Gas, theincrease in the estimated reserves over the lastyear was 4.08 per cent. The maximumcontribution to this increase has been from ColdBed Methane (11.32%), followed by Tripura(8.95%).

3. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production

During the year 2011-12, production forcrude oil was 38.09 MMT, which is about 1.08%higher than the actual crude oil production of37.684 MMT during 2010-11. Natural gasproduction during 2011-12 was 47.559 BCMagainst production of 52.219 BCM during 2010-11 which is lower by 8.92 per cent due to lowerproduction from KG D-6 basin.


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The Government of India launched the ninthbid round of New Exploration Licensing Policy(NELPIX) and fourth round of Coal Bed MethanePolicy (CBM-IV) during October 2010 to enhancethe Country’s energy security. In addition, inorder to supplement domestic reserves the oil andgas PSUs have acquired assets abroad, theproduction of oil and natural gas of ONGC-VIDESH Ltd during 2011-12 was 8.75 MMT ofoil and equivalent gas (MMTOE) from its assetsabroad.

4. Hydrogen-CNG Fuel Centre

The Renewable Energy Ministry on 7thJune,2007 unveiled a Rs 25,000 crore roadmapto promote use of hydrogen, with an estimatedone million vehicles using it as fuel by 2020 andthe gas being used to fire electricity generationunits for an aggregate 1,000 mw of electricity.As part of the new initiative, a demonstrationproject for setting up a hydrogen dispensing set-up at a petrol pump in Delhi has beensanctioned as a joint venture with Indian OilCorporation. The project would enabledispensing of neat hydrogen and CNG blendedwith hydrogen as fuel for vehicles. The stationwill have a hydrogen generation capacity usingan electrolyser system and facilities for storingand dispensing neat hydrogen as well as blendedwith CNG in varying ratios. The H-CNG blendswill be used in the modified CNG vehicles andare expected to further reduce emissions fromsuch vehicles as compared to when burning onlyCNG. The project would also generateoperational experience in handling hydrogen asan automotive fuel.

NON-CONVENTIONALSOURCES OF ENERGY

In the long run, new and renewable sourcesof energy will be necessary since the reserves ofconventional fuels, such as, oil and coal arelimited in the world and the pressure on theiravailability and prices will steadily mount asdemands increase. Even in India, at the currentlevel of production, coal is expected to last foronly 245 years, oil for 21 years and natural gasfor another 38 years. Such alternate sources ofenergy are renewable by nature and have alsothe advantage of generally producing energy ina non-polluting form. Thus, the twin objectivesof energy production and environmental

preservation can both be largely met by recourseto these renewable forms of energy.

1. Solar Energy

The Sun provides us enormous amounts ofenergy in the form of solar radiation-energy thattravels in small wave packets called photons,reaching the surface of the Earth from a distanceof 93 million miles. Radiation energy is releaseddue to thermo-nuclear fusion going oncontinuously in the Sun. The solar energyreaching per square metre of the Earth’satmosphere is called the ‘Solar Constant’ and isequal to 1.36 KW in 12 hours. The total energybeing received by the atmosphere is about1.5x1018 KWh per day. It is believed that withjust 0.1% of the 75000 trillion KWh of solarenergy that reaches the Earth, the energyrequired by plants can be satisfied. Applicationof solar energy can broadly be sub-divided asfollows:

1. Conversion of solar energy into heat.

2. Conversion of solar energy directly intoelectricity.

3. Conversion of solar energy to plants,vegetable or other biological forms andapplication of solar energy to convert theseforms into usable forms of fuel. This maybroadly be termed as bio-energy.

4. Indirect application of solar energy, suchas, harnessing of winds, waves,temperature gradients from the ocean, etc.All of which are the consequences ofincident solar energy.

Applications

Solar Cooker: Depending upon the type ofcooker, the temperature in the range of 120° to300°C can be attained. This can save 30-50% ofcommonly used cooking fuels like wood, coal,LPG, Kerosene, etc. The drawback with suchcooker is that the cooker has to be directedtowards the Sun after every 10-15 minutes andif the automatic devices for such tracking areprovided, the cost increases. In 1982, Indiabecame the first country in the world to startregular large scale commercial production andmarketing of solar cookers.

Solar Pond: Solar pond is one of the mostpromising technologies in solar energy utilization


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for varied purposes. It’s a large-scale solar energycollector with integral heat energy storage byvarious ways, such as, process heating, waterdesalination, refrigeration and drying.

Fluids such as water and air become lighterand rise above when heated. Similarly, whenwater is heated by the Sun’s rays, hot water fromthe bottom of the pond rises and it reaches thesurface, and loses whatever heat it has gainedto the atmosphere. The result is that the pondwater remains at nearly atmospherictemperature. To prevent this heat loss byconvection in a solar pond, salt is dissolved inthe bottom layer of the pond. This makes thewater too heavy (i.e. dense) to rise even whenhot, to the surface, and cool. Thus, the solarenergy remains entrapped in the pond.

A solar pond consists of three zones — Thetop zone or the surface zone is at atmospherictemperature and has little salt content. Thebottom zone is very hot (100°C) and very saltywith specific gravity of about 1.20. It is this zonewhich collects and stores the solar energy in theform of heat and is, hence, known as storagezone. Separating these two zones is the gradientzone that acts as a transparent insulator,permitting sunlight to reach the bottom zone andits thermal energy to remain entrapped there.The useful energy is then withdrawn from thesolar pond in the form of hot brine from thestorage zone.

Solar ponds have three major advantages overthe other solar technologies:

(i) they have a low cost per unit area.

(ii) they can be constructed over large areasenabling the diffused solar radiation tobe concentrated on large scale; and

(iii) they can supply energy even during themonsoon season.

India is the first Asian country to have a solarpond (6000 sq. metres) in Bhuj, Gujarat. Theproject was sanctioned under the National SolarPond Programme by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources in 1987 andcompleted in 1993. The Bhuj solar pond has beendesigned to supply about 220 lakh KWH ofthermal energy per annum; about 1,25,000 KWHof electricity per annum; and about 80,000 litresof potable water per day.

Solar Water Heaters: This system consistsof Flat-plate solar collector and storage tank. Thissystem has many applications in the domesticand industrial sectors. It can provide hot waterfor different applications such as in textileengineering, directly or as boiler feed and in thehotels and canteens, apart from domestic sector.Today, such water heaters are beingmanufactured by many industrialmanufacturers in India and abroad.

Solar Desalination: It works on the waterheating principle. It can be used to provide waterfor drinking in areas where only salty or brackishwater is available. It can also be used to providedistilled water needed for batteries and otherapplications. About 3 to 4 litres of pure watercan be obtained from one square metre area ofthe system per day.

Solar Air Heaters: It can be used for variousapplications like drying of Foodgrains,vegetables, fruits, wood, etc. Products dried in asolar dryer are as good, if not better, in qualityand food value as compared to those dried inconventional dryers. Temperature as high as130°C can very easily be attained with this simplesystem. This hot air can be utilised to dry anymaterial, such as, wood or agricultural crops,increasing the speed and efficiency of such dryingseveral times more than the traditional methodof direct exposure to the Sun. The heated air canalso be used to operate engines.

Solar Space Conditioning: A number ofsolar houses have been built in differentcountries of the world with heating systemscomprising of flat-plate collectors and storageunits, proper heat distribution and controlsystem. Such systems are normally based onabsorption refrigeration cycle. However, thecooling of residential and office buildings canalso be done by following the solar coolingprocess.

Solar Refrigeration: Utilization of solarenergy for production of low temperature hasbeen found to be an attractive propositionbecause the cooling effect is most needed whenthe Sun is shining. Solar cooling is a most requiredapplication for developing countries whereconsiderable quantity of food produce arespoiled due to inadequate and improperprocessing and lack of storage facilities.


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Solar Stem Generators: This is done byconcentrating the solar radiation usingconcentrating collectors like parabolic linefocusing systems, parabolic point focusingsystems or plane reflector central tower systems.Temperature as high as 3000°C can be achieved.The steam can be utilised in industry to operateengines, or to generate power.

2. Wind Energy

Wind energy is the kinetic energy associatedwith movement of large masses of air resultingfrom the differential heating of the atmosphereby the Sun. Hence, wind energy is nothing butthe converted form of solar energy. It is estimatedthat about 106 to 107 MW of usable power iscontinuously available in the Earth’s winds.Though the total quantity of this resource isextremely large, it is concentrated in certainregions, and can vary a great deal with time atgiven location. For the utilization of wind energy,the speed of wind must be between 8 to 22 mper second. Wind energy is renewable andpossess no major environmental threats.

A total capacity of 18,420 MW has beenestablished up to December 2012 in the country.India is now the fifth largest wind powerproducer in the world, after China, USA,Germany and Spain. As per Indian Wind Atlas,the on-shore wind power potential has beenestimated as 49,130 MW at 50 m height.

Wind Energy Conversion: The shaft powerfrom the wind turbine can be utilized for a widevariety of purposes, including electricity (AC &DC generation), direct pumping, directmechanical work, etc. The most common windturbine system involves a tower mounted multi-bladed rotor facing into the wind, rotatingaround a horizontal axis and turning an electricalgenerator or a mechanical gearbox connected toits axis. The maximum power that can beextracted from a wind turbine is 59.3 per cent.

Water Pumping Windmills: Small windmillswith direct mechanical drive matched to a pumpand tank storage are in extensive use in manyparts of the world. These hold significantpotential for pumping water irrigation, drinkingneeds, etc. Improved types of soil water pumpingwindmills have also been developed in severalcountries, including India.

Wind Electric Conversion Systems: Windenergy is a high-quality form of mechanicalenergy that can be converted into electricalenergy with minimal energy losses. Since therotor of a windmill moves periodically, the outputmay be obtained in the form of alternatingcurrent either by using a gearbox or fixing therotational speed or by allowing speed variationsand transforming the generated electrical powerto the desired frequency, electronically.Application ranges from small scale use in ruraland remote communities interconnected withother power plants to large scale generation ofelectricity, which is fed into electric utilitynetwork. It can also be used for battery chargingby driving brushless DC generators, to supplyelectric power to isolated communities, weatherstations, navigation and communication aids,etc. A number of countries like Denmark,Sweden and USA have launched major windenergy testing programmes in an effort tointegrate large scale wind-generated electricpower into grid power supply. The combinationof wind power system and hydroelectric systemis considered to have high potential. Storedwater can be used in low wind periods.Favourable wind regimes on islands, coastalareas and mountain regions could be takenadvantage of in setting up large numbers of windturbines.

Tapping wind power

The Union Ministry of Non-conventionalEnergy Sources (MNES) has recently assessedthat the potential of the wind power sector inIndia is 45,000 MW, which is more than twicethe earlier estimates (i.e., 20,000 MW). Thus,India’s potential for using wind power is muchmore than was previously thought. Presently,India occupies the fifth position in the world witha wind power installed capacity of 18.4 GW.During the year 2012-13 1,067 MW wind powerprojects were commissioned.

In order to generate greater wind power, thedomestic wind power-generating sector has tobe more professional. It must not be boggeddown by constraints like weak grids, inadequatedata on winds and incompatibility withimported infrastructure. 14 States, based on theguidelines of MNES, have introduced policies,which entail banking facility, third party salesof power, etc. MNES is in the process of


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preparing a ‘master plan’ for wind power in 10States, for 80 potential sites. There is no denyingthe fact that without imaginative use of windpower, the energy crunch could not be tackled.

3. Ocean Energy

The sea, which is constantly receiving solarradiations and acts as the world’s largest naturalsolar collector, has potential to provide a meansof utilizing renewable energy. It acts not only ascollector, but also has an enormous storagecapacity. Energy from the ocean is available inseveral forms such as ocean thermal energy,wave energy, tidal energy, salinity gradients,ocean currents, ocean winds and bio-mass.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

There exists a temperature difference of theorder of 20°C between the warm surface waterof the sea and the cold deep water, and thisnatural temperature difference can be used togenerate energy. In one OTEC plant, the warmwater from the surface with the temperature of24 to 30°C is brought into one pipe and the coldwater at the temperature of about 4 to 8°C isbrought in another pipe in the depth of about1000 metres. These two pipes are used inconjunction with fluid such as ammonia,propane or neon. The warm water evaporatesliquid ammonia into vapour at high pressure andis made to pass through a turbine which rotatesit and generates electricity. The ammonia vapourcoming out of the turbine is condensed back intoliquid ammonia by cooling it with the cold seawater brought up from the deep part. Theliquified ammonia is then pumped back to theevaporator, thus, completing the cycle, whichcan then run continuously.

Energy from OTEC can be converted intoeither electrical, chemical or protein form. Theseplants could be combined with energy intensiveindustries like ammonia, hydrogen or aluminiumproduction. Furthermore, OTEC plants can becombined with aquaculture or desalination forobtaining fresh water. The cold water from thedeeper sea which is rich in nutrients can beplaced in a lagoon or lake where these nutrientscan help to raise fish, oysters or other types ofbiological life.

Being a tropical country, India has the OTECpotential of about 50,000 MW. The most

promising site identified so far is on theLakshadweep Islands where the necessarygeographical conditions for a shore-based OTECplant exist. In these islands, the alternative costof producing electricity by transporting dieselfrom the main land as is being done at present,is very high. India has also tied up with a US-firm to set up an OTEC Plant in Tamil Nadu.

Wave Energy

Movement of large quantities of water upand down can, in principle, be harnessed toconvert it into usable form of energy, such as,electricity or mechanical power. Several typesbased on flats, flaps, ramps and oscillating airwater columns have been worked upon toharness wave energy. It is more reliable than thewind energy because here the fluctuation is lessthan the wind. However at present, due to infantstage of its technology, the cost per unit of energyconverted is high because of the need for specialstructures at sea, corrosion problem associatedwith the use of sea water and the problem oftransmitting the power onshore.

Tidal Energy

Tides are created by the combinedgravitational effect of the Earth, the Moon andthe Sun. Though the tide is the universalphenomenon of the Earth’s sea-water body,some regions are more favourable for theestablishment of such power plant for thecommercial production of tidal energy. Primaryrequirements for the construction of aninstallation having a capacity over 200 MW are(i) an average tide of 5-12 metres; (ii) thepossibility of linkage to a grid in order toaccommodate the variable power output of thetidal plant; (iii) favourable geographical locationand favourable socio-economic and ecologicalconditions. Bulb type turbines as used inconventional hydro-electric stations have provedto be reliable for generating power from the tides.

In India, three potential sites have so far beenidentified, namely, the Gulfs of Kutch andCambay on the west coast in Gujarat and theSunderbans along the east coast in West Bengal.According to the estimates of the Indiangovernment, the country has a potential of 8,000MW of tidal energy. This includes about 7,000MW in the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat, 1,200MW in the Gulf of Kutch and 100 MW in the


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Gangetic delta in the Sunderbans region of WestBengal. ‘Central Electricity Authority’ in Indiahas the overall responsibility for developing it.A power plant of 600 MW capacity is proposedto be set up in the Gulf of Kutch.

The Gujarat government is all set to developIndia’s first tidal energy plant. In 2012, the stategovernment had approved Rs. 25 crore forsetting up the 50 MW plant at the Gulf of Kutch.

4. HYDRO ENERGY

India is blessed with immense amount ofhydro-electric potential and ranks 5th in termsof exploitable hydro-potential on global scenario.As per assessment made by CEA, India isendowed with economically exploitable hydro-power potential to the tune of 1,48,700 MW ofinstalled capacity. Today, about 23 per cent ofthe total electric power in the world comes fromhydropower.

India is endowed with economicallyexploitable and viable hydro potential assessedto be about 84,000 MW at 60 per cent load factor(1,48,701 MW installed capacity). In addition,6780 MW in terms of installed capacity fromSmall, Mini, and Micro Hydel schemes have beenassessed. Also, 56 sites for pumped storageschemes with an aggregate installed capacity of94,000 MW have been identified. However, only19.9 per cent of the potential has been harnessedso far.

The total hydro-electric potential in India hasbeen estimated at about 472x109 kilowatt hoursor 472 terawatt hours normally. But, we haveexploited only a little more than 19 per cent ofthe total potential. In addition, it is also estimatedthat an annual energy generation of about 25terawatt could be obtained economicallythrough mini and micro-hydels, coal drops andother possible low- head developments. A centrefor the development and demonstration ofalternate small hydro technologies has been setup at Roorkee University by the Department ofNon-Conventional Energy Sources fordevelopment of newer and more economicdesigns of micro-hydel units, water mills andhydrams. Several field projects in Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammuand Kashmir are being initiated to utilise thepotential availability of canal drops, falls, run-off-river systems, etc.

The National Hydro-Electric PowerCorporation (NHPC) was incorporated in 1975with the objectives to plan, promote and organisethe integrated development of hydro-electricpower. NHPC Limited presently has aninstallation base of 5295 MW from 14hydropower stations on ownership basis,including projects taken up in Joint Venture.Some important hydro-electric power projectsconstructed by NHPC are at Salal and Dulhasti(both in J&K), Tanakpur (Uttarakhand),Chamera (HP), Baira Siul (HP), Chutak (J&K),Teesta Low Dam – III (W.Bengal), Sewa - II(J&K), Teesta - V (Sikkim), Omkareshwar (MP),Dhauliganga - I (Uttarakhand), Indira Sagar(MP), Rangit (Sikkim), Uri - I (J&K), and Loktak(Manipur).

NHPC Limited is presently engaged in theconstruction of 10 projects aggregating to a totalinstalled capacity of 4502 MW. Given therenewed thrust on development of hydro powerin the country, NHPC Limited has drawn up amassive plan to add over 10,000 MW ofhydropower capacity by the end of XIIth Plan(year 2017).

The National Projects ConstructionCorporation (NPCC) was set up in 1957 as ajoint venture of central and state governmentsas a construction-contracting agency for theexecution of multipurpose river valley projects,power projects and other heavy engineeringprojects. As a part of diversification plan, theCorporation proposes to take up the work oftransmission lines also.

5. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Geothermal energy is the exploitation of heatenergy of Earth within 10 km of the Earth’supper crust. Geothermal energy can beprocessed for generation of power, where thegeothermal fluid has a temperature of 130°C.Geothermal manifestations are widespread inIndia in the form of 340 Hot Springs localities.Only a few direct utilization schemes have beenlaunched by various agencies. They are in Puga,Chhumuthang, Manikaran and Bakreshwar. Ofthese, India’s most promising geothermal fieldis in Puga valley in Ladakh. There are numberof geothermal wells drilled in the valley.Tattapani in Madhya Pradesh is anotherpromising geothermal area in India.


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Magneto Hydro-dynamics Power

MHD power generation is a method,whereby thermal energy is directly convertedinto electrical energy instead of thermal energybeing converted to mechanical energy and thento the electrical energy as is done in the powerplants. In this process, coal is burnt to producehot and high speed gas which is allowed to passover a strong magnetic field and this result inthe direct conversion of thermal energy intoelectrical energy. It is capable of achieving netefficiency of around 60 per cent, while in theconventional power plants it is only 35 per cent.

Bio-Engery

Bio-energy includes those processes wherebiological forms of matter, such as, plants,vegetables, enzymes, etc. provide the basis forenergy or its conversion from one form to anotherform of energy. The widest use of bio-energy isin the traditional way, where wood plants andagricultural matter are directly burnt to provideheat. Vegetable biomass is a new name for plantorganic matter, wherein solar energy is trappedand stored through the process of photosynthesisin which carbon dioxide and water aretransformed and form energy-rich organiccompounds.

Biomass covers a wide range of materials,encompassing all kinds of animal, organic andsynthetic wastes and a special variety ofvegetation-wild grass, shrubs and some plantsand trees, especially cultivated to derive energyand useful by products and this biotechnologyis one of the oldest manufacturing activities,having started ever since man learnt to producebread, wine, beer and cheese. However, onlyrecently the process is well understood andmankind has started to move in the rightdirection to make better use of this revolutionarytechnology. The major components of biomassare mainly carbohydrates - sugars, starches andcellulose - with variable nitrogen andphosphorous contents. Animals, organic andsynthetic wastes cover the balance components.There are three basic systems for conversion ofbiomass into energy resources.

(a) Combustion Pyrolysis: Chemicaldecomposition through hightemperature. (upto 5000°C) in partialor total absence of air to produce fuel

gas, oil (methanol) and charcoal.(b) Biogasification: Anaerobic digestion of

biomass to produce combustible gas(biogas) comprising of methane,hydrogen, etc.

(c) Fermentation: Conversion of sugar andstarch into alcohol to produce ethanoland solid residual fuel.

The potential of biomass in India is estimatedat 1250 MMTPA which is about one-eightiethof the global total. Energy available from such amassive biomass is equivalent to about 300 MMTof oil.

6. ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Compressed Natural Gas or CNG is acleaner alternative to the liquid petroleum. CNGis already in use in countries such as the USA,Japan, Italy, Brazil and New Zealand. In Delhi,the Supreme Court has directed the operationof city buses exclusively on CNG fuel mode.Thegovernment on its part launched CNG pilotproject in Delhi as early as 1993. Thanks to thisproject, CNG is now available in the NCR andmost cities of the country.

CNG is cleaner fuel than the conventionalfuel (petrol and diesel) as far as PM is concerned.Further, CO, HC and NOX emission for CNGbased car are lower because of the catalyticconverter fitted with them.

Gasohol: It is a mixture of absolute alcoholand petrol and is being tried as a fuel to run acar. A programme of 5 per cent blending ofethanol with petrol is already underway witheffect from November 2006 targeting 20 Statesand 4 UTs. Subject to availability, the percentageof blend can be enhanced to 10 per cent asspecification for petrol with 10 per cent ethanolblend is already given by the BIS. At present,the EBP Programme is successfully running in14 States and three UTs; OMCs have been ableto contract 55.87 crore litres of ethanol againstthe requirement of 105 crore litres of ethanolfor 5 per cent blending in the entire notified area.

The Mysore Sugar Company of Madya triedout a 25:75 proportion mix of absolute alcoholand patrol for maximum efficiency. A fueleconomy of 3 to 5 per cent has been reportedwhen gasohol is used as a fuel.


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Hydrogen: Hydrogen appears to be afavoured alternative due to its high specificenergy per unit weight, its almost universalavailability as a component of water, goodcombustion characteristics and the fact that it isenvironment-friendly. The primary combustionproduct is water vapour and apart from lownitric oxide fractions, there are virtually noharmful exhaust gases, in particular no carbonmonoxide, hydrocarbons and particulates whichare the bane of petrofuel combustion.

From the safety angle, there is however onemajor problem with hydrogen, its low densityand high diffusion capacity, which leads to ahigh permeation capability through systemswhich are normally considered to be gas-tight.The low density of hydrogen means that it risesquickly into the atmosphere if proper venting isdone. Today, the technology to make hydrogenleak-proof components is available. Also anyleakages can be monitored and displayed withhydrogen sensitive sensors.

Hydrogen is being aggressively explored asa fuel for passenger vehicles. It can be used infuel cells to power electric motors or burned ininternal combustion engines (ICEs). It is anenvironmentally friendly fuel that has thepotential to dramatically reduce our dependenceon imported oil, but several significant challengesmust be overcome before it can be widely used.

NON-CONVENTIONALENERGY PROGRAMME

The need to increase total domestic energyproduction in order to reduce importdependence, combined with the need to moveaway from fossil fuels in the longer run in viewof climate change considerations, points to theneed for stronger efforts to increase the supplyof energy from renewables. Union Minister ofNew and Renewable Energy, Dr. FarooqAbdullah has said that India is committed toincreasing the share of renewable power in theelectricity mix to 15 per cent by the year 2020.He said an action plan has already beendeveloped that aims at accelerating thedeployment of renewable energy with a targetof around 30 GW of renewable power by 2017.

The potential for renewable power has beenrevised upward over time. In the early 80s, India

was estimated to have renewable energypotential of about 85 GW from commerciallyexploitable sources, viz. (i) Wind: 50 GW (at 50m mast height) (ii) Small Hydro: 15 GW (iii) Bio-energy: 20 GW and (iv) solar radiation sufficientto generate 50 MW/sq. km using solarphotovoltaic and solar thermal energy. Theseestimates have since been revised to reflecttechnological advancements. Initial estimatesfrom Centre for Wind Energy Technology(C-WET) suggest that wind energy potential at80 metres height (with 2 per cent landavailability) would be over 100 GW. Some studieshave estimated even higher potential ranges upto 300 GW. The MNRE has initiated an exercisefor realistic reassessment of the wind powerpotential, whose results are expected by the endof 2013.

India’s renewable energy installed capacityhas grown from 3.9 GW in 2002-2003 to about27.3 GW in January 2013. Wind energy has beenthe predominant contributor to this growth. Italso accounts for 68% of the installed capacity,followed by small hydro power (3.55 GW),biomass power (3.56 GW) and solar power (1.4GW).

The Indian renewable energy programmehas been in place for a little over two decadesduring which period the renewable energyindustry has taken a number of initiatives thathave given a major thrust to the programme.Way back in 1980, the Government created theCommission on Additional Sources of Energy(CASE) under the department of Science andTechnology. In September 1982, the Departmentof Non-conventional Energy Sources (DNES)was set up, and then in July 1992, it grew into afull fledged Ministry of Non-conventional EnergySources (MNES). In 2006, this ministry wasrenamed as Ministry of New and RenewableEnergy (MNRE). Interestingly, India is the onlycountry in the world to have a dedicated ministryresponsible for implementing a non-conventionalenergy trajectory in India.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energyis the nodal Ministry of the Government of Indiafor all matters relating to new and renewableenergy. The broad aim of the Ministry is todevelop and deploy new and renewable energyfor supplementing the energy requirements ofthe country.


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The Mission of the Ministry is to ensure:

• Energy Security: Lesser dependence on oilimports through development anddeployment of alternate fuels (hydrogen,bio-fuels and synthetic fuels) and theirapplications to contribute towards bridgingthe gap between domestic oil supply anddemand;

• Increase in the share of clean power:Renewable (bio, wind, hydro, solar,geothermal & tidal) electricity tosupplement fossil fuel based electricitygeneration;

• Energy Availability and Access:Supplement energy needs of cooking,heating, motive power and captivegeneration in rural, urban, industrial andcommercial sectors;

• Energy Affordability: Cost-competitive,convenient, safe, and reliable new andrenewable energy supply options; and

• Energy Equity: Per-capita energyconsumption at par with the global averagelevel by 2050, through a sustainable anddiverse fuel- mix.

POLICY ON NON-CONVENTIONALENERGY

The MNES implements one of the world’slargest programme on renewable energy. Theprogramme objectives are:

(a) Increase the share of renewables in theoverall installed capacity of powergeneration.

(b) Meet the energy needs of rural andremote areas for variety of applications.

(c) Minimise the drudgery and healthhazards faced by rural women infollowing the age old practice of cookingwith fuel wood collected from longdistances, and

(d) Extract energy from urban andindustrial wastes, besides ocean,chemical and geothermal sources.

According to the Annual Report of theMNES, the underlying idea of the programme isnot to substitute but supplement theconventional energy generation in meeting thebasic energy needs of the community at large.

The government started off withprogrammes in research and development (R &D) in all renewable energy technologies with aview to standardising and ensuring that thetechnologies were in a position to deliver reliableand safe energy. In order to offset partially thehigh first cost, the MNES offered incentives byway of upfront capital subsidy and also interestsubsidy in order to reduce the cost of financingfor renewable technologies by individuals andthe private sector. In addition, 100 per centaccelerated depreciation was allowed for firmsthat invested in RETS.

Technical back-up units (TBUS) were set upin different parts of the country to providesupport to various institutions wantingadditional support on RETs. The TBUs alsoundertook promotional programmes andtraining for the local agencies working on RETs.The Indian Renewable Development Agency(IREDA) was set up to finance exclusivelyrenewable energy programmes.

The MNES has taken up special programmesfor renewable energy in the north-eastern regionincluding Sikkim and has earmarked 10 per centof the Plan funds for this region towardsenhanced and special subsidies. A specialprogramme to electrify the Kargil and Ladakhareas districts with 90% as grant from the centreis also under implementation.

INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THEGOVERNMENT

1. Urja Grams

The Department of Non-ConventionalEnergy Sources has taken up a programme onRural Renewable Energy System (RRES)designed to make villages self-sufficient inenergy. This system is called Urja Grams, andare based on local renewable energy sources andbeing environmentally benign, could ensureavailability of electric power as well as cookingenergy at the village level and spearhead allround rural development.

In an Urja Gram, the renewable energydevices can find their applications to meet thejust energy requirement. For example, a biogasplant working on locally available animal andagricultural waste would supply the cooking fuel


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and also fuel for lighting or for irrigationwherever required. Requirement of drying,cooking, hot water, etc. can be met by SolarThermal Systems.

Measures to promote non-conventionalenergy:

• 10% share of new capacity addition or10,000 MW, to come from renewables by2012.

• 18,000 remote villages to be electrified by2012.

• Over 3,500 MW of power generatingcapacity from renewables has been set up,which is contributing about 3.3 per cent ofthe total installed generating capacity in thecountry.

• 8.8 billion Units of electricity generatedfrom wind power projects.

• Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET) and Wind Turbine Test Station arefully operational.

• 750 KW and 1000 KW unit size windturbines introduced for the first time in thecountry.

• A 40 KW solar power plant inaugurated atNyoma, Ladakh.

• 30 MW capacity SPV products exported tovarious developed and developingcountries.

• More than 40 different applications of solarphotovoltaic systems for rural, remote areasand other applications developed.

• More than 4500 solar photovoltaic pumpsare in use for agriculture and related uses.

• 2 MW grid connected SPV power projectsare in operation in the country.

• Over 4,000 potential sites for small hydropower projects have been identified with10,000 MW capacity.

• A 5.25 MW small hydro projectcommissioned at Kalpong in Andaman &Nicobar Islands.

• 440 MW power projects including 156 MWbiomass power and 284 MW bagasse-basedcogeneration projects under installation.

• A project for generation of 5 MW power

from municipal solid waste is underinstallation in Lucknow City.

• A project, first of its kind, for generation of2500 cubic meter biogas from 60 Tonnesper day of slaughter house solid wasteinstalled at M/s. Al-Kabeer, Medak inAndhra Pradesh.

• A Project for treatment of 5 Tonnes oftannery waste and generation of biogas and62 kW power plant installed atMelvisharam in Tamil Nadu, which is alsofirst of its kind in the country.

• Masons, fabricators, potters, women, etc.trained as self-employed workers forconstruction of biogas plants and improvedchulhas.

• 125 renewable energy sales and servicingoutlets and 150 women self help groupspromoted.

• Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute forRenewable Energy established inKapurthala in Punjab.

• Four IREP centres are operational at Bakoli(Delhi); Chinhat (Lucknow) U.P., Jakkur(Bangalore) Karnataka; and Village Amrol,Kheda District, Gujarat.

• Zero emission vehicles including two, three& four wheelers and large capacitypassenger vehicles are being promotedthrough support for research anddevelopment, demonstration andoperations.

2. Tidal Energy in Sunderbans

The Union Ministry of Non-conventionalEnergy Sources (MNES) has sanctioned a 90 percent grant for the Rs.48-crore project inSunderbans. The West Bengal government willmeet the remaining cost of this project. TheNational Hydroelectric Power Corporation(NHPC) has been chosen the contractor for theproject, which is being executed by the WestBengal Green Energy Development Corporation,the corporate entity which has been formed bythe West Bengal government to commercializeits renewable energy forays.

The Sunderbans project will be ademonstrative project which may be replicated,although the Kutch and the Gulf of Cambay in


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Gujarat are the only two regions in the countrywhere there is known potential of this form ofgreen energy. For the people living in the villagesaround the Durgaduani Creek, solar homelighting systems is the only form of electricityknown, with the slightly better-off burninggallons of diesel to run polluting generator setsto draw power. An eight MW capacity has beencreated so far for 4.4 million people, who maynever have had any access to electric power sincethey stay in remote areas where conventionalpower may never reach. Efforts are now on tobring an additional five million people under thiscoverage by 2012.

3. Electricity Generation from Human Waste

An electricity generation fuelled by sewagehas been developed. The waste we flush downthe toilet could one day power the lights at home.A generator does the job of a sewage-treatmentplant at the same time as it breaks down theharmful organic matter as it generates theelectricity. Harnessing chemical techniquessimilar to those the body uses to break downfood, Pennsylvania State’s microbial fuel cell(MFC) diverts the electrons liberated in thereaction to produce electrical energy.

The MFC comprises of a sealed 15 cm longcan with a central cathode rod surrounded by aproton exchange membrane (PEM) which ispermeable only to protons. Sewage processingplants are needed in developing countries butthey are expensive, as they use too much power.Producing electricity at the same time will offsetthis cost. A slurry of bacteria and undigestedfood consisting of organic matter such ascarbohydrates, proteins and lipids are containedin sewage. In a process that releases electrons,the bacteria found in sewage treatment worksuse enzymes to oxidise organic matter. Normallythe electrons power respiratory reaction in thebacteria cells, and are combined with oxygenmolecules. The organic waste is broken downby bacteria that cluster around the anodes asorganic waste is pumped in releasing electronsand protons with no oxygen to help mop up theelectrons, bacteria’s enzymes transfer them to theanodes, while the protons migrate throughprotons are encouraged to pass through to thecathode by polarised molecules on the P&M(Proton exchange membrane) which ispermeable only to protons. There they combine

with oxygen from the air and electrons from thecathode to produce water. It is this transfer ofelectrons at the electrodes that sets up thevoltage between them, enabling the cell to poweran external circuit.

NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION

The Jawaharlal Nehru National SolarMission, also known as National Solar Mission,is one of the eight key National Mission’s whichcomprise India’s National Action Plan onClimate Change (NAPCC). NAPCC waslaunched on 30th June 2008 which identifieddevelopment of solar energy technologies in thecountry as a National Mission. Finally onJanuary 11, 2010 Government of India approvedNational Solar Mission.

The Solar Mission recommends theimplementation in 3 stages leading up to aninstalled capacity of 20,000 MW by the end ofthe 13th Five Year Plan in 2022. It serves twinpurpose:

(i) Long term energy Security

(ii) Ecological Security

Objective:

Objective of National Solar Mission is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly aspossible. The Mission adopts a 3-phase approach:

Phase 1: spanning the first year of the 12th Plan

Phase 2: the remaining 4 years of the 12th Plan

Phase 3: the 13th Plan

The immediate aim of the Mission is to focus on setting up an enabling environment for solar technology penetration in the countryboth at a centralized and decentralized level.Also the Mission anticipates achieving grid parityby 2022 and parity with coal-based thermalpower by 2030.

The mission targets are:

• To create an enabling policy framework forthe deployment of 20,000 MW of solarpower by 2022.

• To ramp up capacity of grid-connected


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solar power generation to 1000 MW withinthree years – by 2013; an additional 3000MW by 2017 through the mandatory useof the renewable purchase obligation byutilities backed with a preferential tariff.This capacity can be more than doubled –reaching 10,000MW installed power by2017 or more, based on the enhanced andenabled international finance andtechnology transfer.

• The ambitious target for 2022 of 20,000 MWor more, will be dependent on the ‘learning’of the first two phases, which if successful,could lead to conditions of grid-competitivesolar power.

• The transition could be appropriatelyupscaled, based on availability ofinternational finance and technology.

• To create favourable conditions for solarmanufacturing capability, particularly solarthermal power for indigenous productionand market leadership.

• To promote programmes for off gridapplications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017and 2000 MW by 2022.

• To achieve 15 million sq. meters solarthermal collector area by 2017 and 20million sq.mts. by 2022.

• To deploy 20 million solar lighting systemsfor rural areas by 2022.

HYDROCARBON VISION 2025

It is provided for the first time acomprehensive long term framework fordevelopment of the oil and gas sector in Indiaunder globally competitive scenarios. This wasgoverned mainly by the following consideration:

• To assure energy security by achieving self-reliance through increased indigenousproduction and investment in equity oilabroad.

• To enhance quality of life by progressivelyimproving product standards to ensure acleaner and greener India.

• To develop hydrocarbon sector as a globallycompetitive industry which could bebenchmarked as the best in the worldthrough technology upgradation andcapacity building.

• To have a free market and promote healthycompetition among players and improvethe customer service.

• To insure oil security for the countrykeeping in view strategic and defenceconsiderations.

NATIONAL HYDROGENENERGY ROAD MAP

Hydrogen holds the promise to provide clean,reliable and sustainable energy supply formeeting the growing energy needs fortransportation and power generation in thecoming years. Hydrogen can be used directly asa fuel for producing mechanical/electricalenergy through internal combustion engines. Itcan also be used in fuel cells to generate electricityfor stationary, portable and transportapplications. Hydrogen is environmentallybenign and has the potential to replace liquidfossil fuels in the future and thereby provideenergy security to India.

Recognizing the importance of hydrogen asan energy carrier for the future, the Ministry ofNew and Renewable Energy, as the nodalMinistry for this sector, has been implementinga broad based Research, Development andDemonstration Programme on Hydrogen Energyand Fuel Cell Technologies for more than twodecades. In recent years, significant progress hasbeen reported by several countries, includingIndia in the development of hydrogen as analternative fuel both for automotive andstationary applications.

A National Hydrogen Energy Road Map(NHERM) was prepared by a Steering Group setup by the National Hydrogen Energy Board,under the Chairmanship of Shri Ratan Tata. TheNational Hydrogen Energy Road Map wasapproved by the National Hydrogen EnergyBoard in January, 2006.

The NHERM has identified research,development and demonstration efforts to beundertaken in the country for bridging thetechnological gaps in different areas of hydrogenenergy, including its production, storage,transportation and delivery, applications, safety,codes and standards and capacity building forthe period up to 2020. The Road Map hasemphasised on development of the total


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hydrogen energy system, which includes all theabove components of hydrogen energy sector.Keeping in view the present status ofdevelopment of hydrogen energy, the NHERMhas recommended two major initiatives forpromoting the use of hydrogen as a fuel for GreenTransportation (Green Initiative for FutureTransportation-GIFT) and Green PowerGeneration (Green Initiative for PowerGeneration-GIP).

The National Hydrogen Energy Road Maphas visualized that by 2020, one millionhydrogen fuelled vehicles, mostly two and threewheelers and 1,000 MW aggregate hydrogenbased power generation capacity would beestablished in the country. A total investmentrequirement of Rs. 25,000 crores has beenprojected in the Road Map for creating therequired hydrogen supply infrastructure torealize the goals of one million vehicles and 1,000MW power generation capacities by 2020,including Rs. 1,000 crores for research,development and demonstration activities. TheRoad Map is a public-private partnership drivenprocess.

Hydrogen is high in energy content as itcontains 120.7 MJ/kg, which is the highest forany known fuel. However, its energy contentcompared to volume is rather low. This poseschallenges with regard to its storage for civilianapplications, when compared to storage of liquidfossil fuels. When burnt, hydrogen produceswater as a by-product and is, therefore,environmentally benign. Although no CO2, etc.are produced if hydrogen is burnt in air, yet NOxwill be formed at high temperatures. One of theadvantages of hydrogen as a fuel is that it canbe used directly in the existing internalcombustion engines and turbines. It can also beused as a fuel in fuel cells for electricitygeneration. Hydrogen applications, besidesindustrial application, cover power generation,transport applications and heat. However, whencompared to other alternatives, use of hydrogenin transport sector appears to be more beneficialas it is possible to store hydrogen on-board.

Initiatives Taken So Far

The Ministry has supported research,development and demonstration projects onvarious aspects of hydrogen energy including its

production, storage and use as a fuel forgeneration of mechanical/thermal/electricalenergy. The application of hydrogen in fuel cellsfor power generation has been demonstrated asa result of initiatives taken by this Ministry.Hydrogen fuelled small power generating sets,two wheelers (motor cycles), three wheelers andcatalytic combustion systems for residential andindustrial sectors have also been developed anddemonstrated.

A Demonstration Project for setting up of aHydrogen Dispensing Station at a petrol pumpin New Delhi has been sanctioned as a jointproject of Ministry of New and RenewableEnergy and Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Theproject would enable dispensing of neathydrogen and H-CNG blends as fuel forautomotive vehicles. The project wascommissioned in March, 2010. The H-CNGblends used in the modified CNG vehicles andare expected to reduce emissions from H-CNGvehicles, as compared to CNG vehicles. Theproject is also generating operational experiencein handling hydrogen as an automotive fuel. H-CNG is a vehicle fuel which is a blend ofcompressed natural gas and hydrogen, typically8-50% hydrogen by volume.

The research was initiated by the Ministryof Petroleum and Natural gas in 2003. AHydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF) of Rs 100 crorewas created with contribution from all PSU oiland gas companies and Oil IndustryDevelopment Board (OIDB). Out of the totalallocated amount of Rs 100 crore to the oilindustry, IOC R&D has utilised Rs 14 crore forvarious demonstration projects. This is inaddition to other projects funded by MNRE andalso IOC R&D's own budget. IOCL is all praisefor H-CNG's efficiency.

Another project for the introduction of H-CNG blends on a trial basis in existing CNGVehicles has been undertaken by the Ministry ofNew and Renewable Energy jointly with theSociety of Indian Automobile Manufacturers(SIAM). The project is the first public-privatepartnership project in this new technology area.The project aims for the introduction of H-CNGblend as a fuel on trial basis in buses, cars andthree wheelers. The Indian Oil Corporation isalso participating in this project and the existinghydrogen dispensing facility set up at its R&D


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Centre at Faridabad used for fuelling thevehicles. Under this project, the engines of theexisting CNG vehicles and fuel injection systemswould be modified. The project aims atoptimizing the H-CNG blend ratio for optimalvehicle performance and minimal emissions.

Several new R&D Projects in the area ofHydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell technology havebeen sanctioned to Universities, IITs and R&Dorganizations and further proposals are in thepipeline. A National Centre for HydrogenEnergy and Fuel Cell Technology is being set upat the Solar Energy Centre Campus of theMinistry at Gurgaon, Haryana.

The National Hydrogen Energy Road Maphad recommended 8 Technology Missions to betaken up in this area. Work has been initiatedin two of these areas i.e. on the Development ofSolid Oxide Fuel Cells, for which the CGCRI andBHEL have submitted a joint - R&D projectproposal to the Ministry. A proposal foraccelerated commercialization of PEM Fuel cellsin mission mode is being developed.

In June 2012, to make India a fuel efficientcountry by switching to a hydrogen-based fuelcell economy, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)has developed hydrogen mixed CNG. It is 15-20per cent more efficient than normal CNG. Theuse of Hydrogen-CNG fuel is expected to reducecarbon monoxide emissions up to 25 per cent,THC (total hydrocarbon) emissions by 5 per centand carbon dioxide emissions by 5 per cent ascompared to CNG, revealed the IOC (R&D),Faridabad.

BIOFUEL MISSION

Karanj (Pongamia pinnata) and Jatropha(Jatropha curcas) are the two plants India isemphasizing on for promoting alternative energysources, as the country launches a nationwidebiofuel mission.

A committee of experts was set up by theFederal Planning Commission, which will studyand suggest measures for the promotion ofbiofuels development. In a report submitted bythe committee before the commission, thecommittee has recommended the government tolaunch a countrywide biofuels mission focusingon encouraging the cultivation of Karanj andJatropha. Karanj and Jatropha are two seed-bearing, drought-tolerant perennial tree-crops.

The national mission launched in two phaseswith one goal:

• The objective of the mission is to attain thegoal of 20% blending of biofuels with dieseland gasoline nationwide.

• Under a first demonstration phase Jatrophaand Karanj plantations would beestablished on 400,000 hectares ofgovernment-owned land.

• In the second phase of themission, Jatropha will be cultivated on notless than 11.2 million hectares ofgovernment-owned as well as private landfor increasing biodiesel production.

There’s a requirement of 2.6 million tonsbiodiesel in India in order to achieve its goal of5% blending with fossil fuels.

The Government of India approved theNational Policy on Biofuels in December 2009.The biofuel policy encouraged the use ofrenewable energy resources as alternate fuels tosupplement transport fuels (petrol and diesel forvehicles) and proposed a target of 20 percentbiofuel blending (both bio-diesel and bio-ethanol)by 2017. The government launched the NationalBio-diesel Mission (NBM) identifying Jatropha asthe most suitable tree-borne oilseed for bio-dieselproduction. The Planning Commission of Indiahad set an ambitious target covering 11.2 to 13.4million hectares of land under Jatrophacultivation by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan.The central government and several stategovernments are providing fiscal incentives forsupporting plantations of Jatropha and othernon-edible oilseeds. Several public institutions,state biofuel boards, state agricultural universitiesand cooperative sectors are also supporting thebiofuel mission in different capacities.

Biofuels market in India is largely based onEthanol - derived from the molasses of sugarcane- and biodiesel that’s obtained through non edibleoil seeds for example Pongamia and Jatropha.The primary objectives of the govt. forencouraging biofuels industry includeenvironmental factors, plus security anddiversity of energy supply. This is also workingas the key driver for the growth of biofuelindustry in India.

Biogas: Biogas is a clean, unpolluted andcheap source of energy in rural areas. It contains


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55 to 70 per cent methane, which is inflammable.Biogas is produced from cattle dung in a ‘BiogasPlant’ commonly known as ‘Gobargas Plant’,through a process called ‘digestion’. Themanurial value of the dung is enhanced in theprocess. A biogas plant helps in obtaining bothcooking fuel and enriched manure from thesame quantity of cattle dung. Village sanitationis also improved. Environmental conditions areupgraded as the forest cover is protected bysaving fuelwood. Biogas is also used for lightingpurpose. It could also be used for runningengines of small horsepower. Large scalepromotion of biogas plants helps to generateemployment for masons, village technicians andunskilled workers in rural areas.

The National Project for Biogas Development(NPBD) is being implemented by the Departmentof Non-conventional Energy Sources inco-operation with State Departments, StateNodal Agencies and Non-GovernmentalAgencies. NPBD caters to the promotion of familytype biogas plants. It was started in 1981-82. Thebroad objectives of the project are:

(a) To provide energy in a clean andunpolluted form;

(b) To produce enriched manure tosupplement the use of chemicalfertilizers;

(c) To bring improvement in the life of ruralwomenfolk and children by relievingthem from drudgery; and

(d) To improve sanitation and hygiene.

Setting up of community and institutionalbiogas plants was initiated in 1982-83 to providebenefits of biogas technology to weaker sectionsof society also, who otherwise cannot affordfamily type biogas plants. This programmeprovides financial assistance upto 90% of thecapital cost of village-based community biogasplants. Plants set up by Central and StateGovernment institutions, Co-operatives or Truststied to such bodies are eligible to receive financialassistance upto 70% of the capital cost.

Biogas production is a clean low carbontechnology for efficient management andconversion of organic wastes into cleanrenewable biogas and organic fertilizer source.It has the potential for leveraging sustainablelivelihood development as well as tackling local

(land, air and water) and global pollution. Biogasobtained by anaerobic digestion of cattle dungand other loose and leafy organic matters/wastes can be used as energy source for cooking,lighting and other applications like refrigeration,electricity generation and transport applications.

Bio-Alternative to Diesel: After introducingethanol-blended petrol in selected states, thecentre has now drawn up a Rs. 1,430 crore planto make use of oil from the seeds of the Jatrophaplant as a bio-alternative to diesel. The plan,which is to be implemented with a mission modeapproach, is expected to generate six lakh tonnesof diesel-quality oil valued at Rs. 1,020 crore perannum at the end of a gestation period of fouryears.

For the purpose of the project, Jatrophaplantations would be raised in an area of fourlakh hectares spread over eight states- AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh,Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarh.

National Bio-Diesel Policy

As per the announcement of Ministry ofPetroleum & Natural Gas, beginning fromJanuary 1, 2006, the public sector oil marketingcompanies (OMCs) will be purchasing bio-diesel(B100) at Rs. 25 a litre for blending with diesel(HSD) to the extent of 20 per cent in phases. Tostart with, five per cent of bio-diesel, a non-edibleoil extracted from ‘Jatropha’ and ‘Pongamia,’would be mixed with diesel during trial runs.At a later stage, in phases, the B100 blendingwith diesel is to be increased to 20 per cent.Automobile engines would not require anymodification for using diesel doped with 20 percent bio-diesel as fuel.

Only those bio-diesel manufacturers who gettheir samples approved and certified by the oilcompanies and registered as authorised supplierswill be eligible for assured purchase of product.Accordingly, starting January 1, 2006, the OMCs- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat PetroleumCorporation Limited (BPCL) and HindustanPetroleum Corporation Limited are purchasing,through select purchase centres, bio-diesel thatmeets the fuel quality standards prescribed bythe Bureau of Industrial Standards (BIS).

Biodiesel: Jatropha plantation is a subject forstate governments. Public-sector petroleum


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companies and private sector firms have enteredinto a MoU with state governments to establishand promote Jatropha plantation on governmentwastelands or to contract with small andmedium farmers. However, only a few stateshave been able to promote actively Jatrophaplantation despite the government’s incentivesand encouraging policies.

There are about 20 large-capacity biodieselplants (10,000 to 200,000 metric tons per year)in India that produce biodiesel from alternativefeed stocks such as edible oil waste (unusable oilfractions), animal fat and inedible oils.

Presently, commercial production andmarketing of Jatropha-based biodiesel in Indiais small, with estimates varying from 140 to 300million litres per year. The biodiesel produced issold to the unorganized sector (irrigation pumps,mobile towers, kilns, agricultural usage, ownersof diesel generators, etc.) and to experimentalprojects carried out by automobile manufacturersand transport companies. However, as perindustry sources, there has been no commercialsale of biodiesel to state owned transportcompanies except for trials.

Additionally, there has been no commercialsale of biodiesel across the biodiesel purchasecentres (set up by the GOI) as the governmentbiodiesel purchase price of Rs. 26.5 per litre isstill below the estimated biodiesel finishedproduction cost (Rs 35 to Rs 40 per litre).Unavailability of feedstock supply (Jatrophaseeds), rising wage rates and inefficientmarketing channels are a few of the major factorsthat have contributed to higher production costs.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Various programmes are being implementedunder the MNES to promote new and emergingrenewable energy technologies such as fuel cells,hydrogen energy, electric vehicles, geothermalenergy and tidal energy.

(a) Fuel Cells: Through this device the chemicalenergy of a fuel can be converted into usableelectricity and heat without combustion asan intermediate step. Hydrogen is theprimary fuel in this device, which can beproduced from renewable sources of energy.Because of modular nature, fuel cells areideally suited for distributed powergeneration.

(b) Geothermal Energy: Geothermal energy iscollected from a vast reservoir of heat inthe interior of the earth. About 340geothermal hot springs have been identifiedthroughout the country. Use of geothermalenergy has been demonstrated for smallscale power generations and thermalapplications.

(c) Ocean Energy: The Ocean acts as a naturalcollector of solar energy. The temperaturegradients, waves and tides contained byocean can be used to generate electricity inan eco-friendly manner. Likewise, flowingtidal water contain large amounts ofpotential energy.

INDIA’S ENERGY SECURITY

Energy security involves ensuringuninterrupted supply of energy to support theeconomic and commercial activities necessary forsustained economic growth. Energy security isobviously more difficult to ensure if there is largedependence on imported energy. This calls foraction in several areas.

1) The domestic production of coal, oil andgas and other energy sources has to bestepped up. Some of the recent issues inthis regard have been availability of land,clearances for environment and forest andimplementation of the Scheduled Tribes andOther Traditional Forest Dwellers(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.Uncertainty about production sharingcontracts has also posed problems.Management strategies and procedures willhave to be devised for ensuring effectiveimplementation of fuel developmentprojects while meeting the requirements ofabove policies and legislations.

2) A stable and attractive policy regime hasto be provided to ensure substantial privateinvestment, including foreign investment inoil and natural gas blocks and newcapacities for renewable energy. Producersmust have clarity in the price they willreceive and an assurance of a stable taxregime. Since oil exploration is a globalindustry the terms India offers must becomparable with those offered elsewhere.In this context the entire structure of NewExploration Licensing Policy (NELP)contracts for oil and gas need to bereviewed.


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3) Investments in renewable energies need tobe strongly emphasised. By presentprojections, the share of renewable energyin total energy consumption will only reach2 per cent by 2021.

4) Investments in energy assets in foreigncountries, especially for coal, oil and gasand uranium should be stepped up.

5) To meet any possible disruption in oilsupplies, on which we are import-dependent to the extent of more than 80per cent, storage capacities need to becreated. The Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD)countries have generally created thesecapacities to the extent of 90 days of theirdomestic demand. We have created thecapacity for 5 million tonnes. It has,however, not been fully utilised so far.There will be a need to increase thisgradually and utilise it fully. Innovativeways will have to be found to fill up thesetankages.

RAJIV GANDHI GRAMEENVIDYUTIKARAN YOJNA

A scheme ‘Rajiv Gandhi GrameenVidyutikaran Yojana’ for a Rural ElectricityInfrastructure and Household Electrification waslaunched in April, 2005 for the attainment ofthe National Common Minimum Programme ofproviding access to electricity to all RuralHousehold in five years. The scheme involvedelectrification of all unelectrified villages plus afree connection for BPL households.

The Ministry of Power has been entrustedwith the responsibility of providing electricity tothe uncovered villages through the programmeinstrument of Rajiv Gandhi GrameenVidyutikaran Yojana. Rural ElectrificationCorporation (REC) would be the implementationagency of the scheme which covers the entirecountry. To achieve this objective, RuralElectricity Distribution Backbone will be set upas village electrification - infrastructure. Thescheme deployment of franchisee system has alsobeen made mandatory so as to bring aboutrevenue sustainability in the rural distributionsystem.

The scheme provided a subsidy of 90 per centof the total project cost and balance 10 per cent

of the project cost was to be provided by theRural Electrification Corporation (REC) as loan.Initially, Phase I of the RGGVY scheme wasapproved for implementation with a capitalsubsidy of `5,000 crore during the remainder ofthe 10th Plan period. Subsequently, the schemewas approved to be continued in the 11th Planwith a capital subsidy of 28,000 crore. Overall,by the end of 11th Plan, out of the total 5,93,732villages in India (Census 2001), 5,56,633 villages(93.8 per cent) ought to have been electrified asper CEA report.

The States of Delhi, Goa and Union Territoriesof Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh,Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu andPuducherry have not participated in RGGVYProgramme as they had achieved 100 per centelectrification of villages. In remaining 27 states,RGGVY Projects for 579 districts have beensanctioned.

Salient Features

(A) The Scheme: (i) The Scheme had aimedat electrification of about One lakh villages andproviding access to electricity to 7.8 crore ruralhouseholds, including 2.34 crore BPL householdsby 2009.

(ii) The Government estimated an outlay ofRs. 16,000 crore under RGGVY for attainmentof stipulated objectives of the programme, ofwhich, Rs. 5000 crore was approved as capitalsubsidy during 10th plan period forimplementation of Phase-I of the programme.

(B) Scope: Under the scheme, projects couldbe financed with capital subsidy for provisionof -

1. Rural Electricity Distribution Backbone(REDB)

(a) Provision of 33/11 KV substations ofadequate capacity and lines in blockswhere these do not exist.

2. Creation of Village ElectrificationInfrastructure

(a) Electrification of unelectrified villages.(b) Electrification of unelectrified

habitations.(c) Provision of distribution transformers

of appropriate capacity in electrifiedvillages/habitation.

(d) 25,000 remote villages covered for


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financing under MNES not included.(e) Decentralised generation-cum-distri-

bution from conventional sources orvillages where grid connectivity is eithernot feasible or not cost effective.

3. Rural Household Electrification of BelowPoverty Line Households

(a) Electrification of unelectrified BelowPoverty Line (BPL) households wouldbe financed with 100 per cent capitalsubsidy as per norms of Kutir JyotiProgramme in all rural habitations.

(b) Households above poverty line wouldbe paying for their connections atprescribed connection charges and nosubsidy would be available for thispurpose.

THREAT TO ENERGY SECURITY

The threat to energy security arises not justfrom the uncertainty of availability and price ofimported energy, but also from the possibledisruption or shortfalls in domestic production.The second concern is not disruption of supplybut the market risk of a sudden increase in oilprice. While we may be able to pay for imports,a high oil price can cause inflation, slow downthe economy and impose hardship on the people.Any disruption in access to energy can be veryexpensive in welfare terms as energy is criticalnot only for economic growth but also for humansurvival and well-being.

Reduce Energy Requirements

Improvement in energy efficiency orconservation is akin to creating a new domesticenergy resource base. Such efficiencyimprovements can be made in energy extraction,conversion, transmission, distribution and end-use of energy. All of these efficiencyimprovements can come using currentlyavailable commercial technologies.

Energy efficiency and demand sidemanagement also have a large scope to reduceenergy requirement. These include the use ofenergy efficient appliances and automobiles,hybrid cars, energy efficient buildings, efficientlighting, cogeneration, distributed generationwith Combined Heat and Power (CHP) use,energy efficient and well-maintained irrigationpumps, smokeless improved woodstoves, etc.

In the long-term, promotion of publictransport in urban areas can significantly reduceenergy consumption, particularly the need forimported oil and gas. Develop effective andattractive mass transport such as underground,elevated trains, light rail, monorail or dedicatedbus lanes in existing metros.

Substitute Domestic Alternatives

Energy security can be increased by reducingthe need for imported energy by substituting itwith other forms of energy. Though this doesnot reduce the need for total energy, it reducesimport dependence. Some important optionsinclude:

1. Wood plantations with a potential ofyielding up to 20 tonnes of wood perhectare per year in a sustainable way couldsignificantly expand the domestic energyresource base. Wood can be burned directlyor gasified for power generation. This wouldreduce the need for future gas/coal imports.

2. Bio-diesel and Ethanol can substitute dieseland petrol. Ethanol can be obtained frommolasses, which may have othereconomically more paying uses. Ethanolcan also be obtained from other starchycrops and from cellulosic plant matter.

3. If hydrogen can be produced as abyproduct of industry or with locallyavailable energy sources, hydrogen basedvehicles could provide an option to reducedependence on oil imports.

4. Coal can be converted into oil as is done inSouth Africa. The technology is well-developed and in use for years.

Develop Alternative Sources

Enhanced Recovery: Enhanced oil, gas andcoal recovery from existing fields is an obviousoption. India’s recovery of in-place reserves canimprove easily by 5-10 percentage points. Bettermine design and the use of technologicallyadvanced mining techniques are valid options.

Coal Bed Methane: Methane is absorbed incoal seams. This Coal Bed Methane (CBM)usually escapes into the atmosphere when coalis mined. Tapping and utilizing the CBM as asource of commercial energy has been in voguein the US and Australia for several years. Theestimated potential of CBM in India is in therange of 1400-2600 billion cu. metres (BCM).


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The potential of Coal Bed Methane/CoalMine Methane was recognised in a new policyof Government of India in 1997. The Ministry ofCoal and the Ministry of Petroleum and NaturalGas are working together for the developmentof Coal Bed Methane and the Government hasoffered 33 blocks in four rounds of bidding forCBM covering 17,416 sq. km of area. One blockin Raniganj coalfield has commencedcommercial production in 2007 and two blocksare in advanced stage of commencingproduction.

The Director General of Hydrocarbons is theregulator for CBM activities in the country. TheCBM/CMM clearance house has beenestablished in CMPDIL, Ranchi, in collaborationwith United States Environment ProtectionAgency (USEPA) which will provide informationfor development of CBM/CMM in India. Thecurrent level of production, being only 0.2mmscmd, is confined mostly to the private sector.There is no separate pricing regime for CBM andthe gas prices are determined by the developer,subject to Government approval.

Coal to Oil: Rising oil prices in the worldmarket makes conversion of coal to oileconomically attractive. India should establishthe viability of Sasol technology with domesticcoal and establish the breakeven price at whichcoal to liquids would make sense for Indian coal.

New Domestic Sources: The domesticresource base can also be expanded throughdeveloping hitherto poorly developed or newsources of energy. Some of these resources mayrequire R & D to make them economical. Amongthese are:

1) Nuclear Power: With meagre availabilityof Uranium in the country and vastresources of Thorium, any long-termnuclear strategy has to be based onThorium. The three stage strategy ofdevelopment of nuclear power frompressurized heavy water based reactors tofast breeder reactors to Thorium basedreactors require a sustained R & D effort.Success in these efforts could deliver some2, 50,000 MW of nuclear power by 2050and much more thereafter.

2) Gas Hydrates: Very large reserves exist inIndian waters and have the potential toprovide vast amount of gas. Technology to

exploit these economically in ecologicallysafe ways is yet to be developed.

3) Wind: The potential for onshore windpower has been assessed to be 45,000 MW.The Wind Energy Society of India claims itto be as high as 65,000 MW. However, giventhat the average capacity factor realizedby India’s wind farms is only about 17percent, the total contribution to energyfrom these plants would be relatively small.Thus while wind power may be pursuedfor environmental and economic reasons,its contribution to energy security willremain very limited.

4) Solar: Solar energy, if it can beeconomically exploited constitutes a majorenergy resource for the country. Solarelectricity generated through either thethermal route or using photovoltaic cellsprovides comparable amounts of electricityper unit of collector area. Both methodscurrently provide about 15 percentconversion efficiency.

5) Energy Plantations: Growing fuel wood forrunning power plants either directly or aftergasification can save the coal or gas usedfor generating power. Since the country’senergy needs are growing, imports of coaland LNG are also likely to grow. Fuel woodplantations can help improve energysecurity. The scope for such plantations issubstantial.

CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

With the development of civilization andcommercialization coupled with urbanisationthe needs of the people have grown significantly.Human beings have exploited the resourcesendlessly. These activities based upon resourceconsumption have led to the problems ofdegradation and depletion of energy resources.A grim scenario of the energy resource has beencreated in the form of energy crisis. A detailedstudy of the background of the situation compelsus to think about the major cause of such asituation. One can pronounce on an unequivocalterm that it is the cost of industrial developmentcoupled with over dependence on conventionalsources. Past generations in coping the pace ofdevelopment have harnessed the conventionalsources at an exorbitant rate with deaf ears tofuture problems. A want of rationale is enshrined


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in the behavioural approach of society vis-a-visenergy consumption.

Rural Electrification Corporation

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited(REC), a Navratna Central Public SectorEnterprise under Ministry of Power, wasincorporated on July 25, 1969 under theCompanies Act 1956. Its main objective is tofinance and promote rural electrification projectsall over the country. It provides financialassistance to State Electricity Boards, StateGovernment Departments and Rural ElectricCooperatives for rural electrification projects asare sponsored by them.

REC provides loan assistance to SEBs/StatePower Utilities for investments in ruralelectrification schemes through its CorporateOffice located at New Delhi and 17 field units(Project Offices), which are located in most ofthe States.

The Project Offices in the States coordinatethe programmes of REC’s financing with theconcerned SEBs/State Power Utilities andfacilitate in formulation of schemes, loansanction and disbursement and implementationof schemes by the concerned SEBs/State PowerUtilities.

Ultra Mega Power Projects

Ministry of Power launched a uniqueinitiative in 2005-06 to facilitate the developmentof Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) eachhaving a capacity of about 4000 MW each, atboth the coal pitheads and coastal locationsaimed at delivering power at competitive cost toconsumers by achieving economies of the scale.The Central Government has accordingly takenthe initiative for facilitating the development ofUMPPs under tariff based competitive biddingroute using super critical technology on build,own and operate (BOO) basis. Central ElectricityAuthority (CEA) is the Technical partner andPower Finance Corporation (PFC) is the NodalAgency.

The Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs)Programme, which brings in private investmentinto power generation, was a major initiative ofthe Eleventh Plan. So far power purchaseagreements have been signed for four UMPPs of4,000 MW each on the basis of competitive tariff-based bidding. They are based in Sasan (Madhya

Pradesh), Mundra (Gujarat), Krishnapatnam(Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand). Outof these, one unit of 800 MW of Mundra by TataPower has been commissioned in March 2012.12 more supercritical UMPPs are being plannedcovering Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra andKarnataka. An important element of thisprogramme is the induction of supercriticaltechnology, which is an important shift towardsenergy efficiency. Unfortunately, some of theseprojects are plagued with uncertaintiesregarding fuel supply because they were basedon imported coal and changes in governmentpolicies in the countries where the coal mineswere located have raised the cost of coalwhereas the power tariff is based on acompetitive bid which does not contain aprovision for passing on such increases.

MAJOR NEW INITIATIVES

The following are some of the new initiativesin the area of renewable energy:

1. National Institute of Solar Energy: Theexisting Solar Energy Centre would beconverted into an autonomous institutionfor undertaking applied research,demonstration and development in solarenergy, including solar hybrid areas.

2. National Bioenergy Corporation of India:National Bio Energy Corporation of India(NBECI) will be set up to implementbioenergy mission, including cook stoveprogramme.

3. Renewable Energy Development Fund: Inorder to address the financing constraintsfor the grid connected as well as the off-grid applications of renewables, it isproposed to create a Renewable EnergyDevelopment fund. The fund will plug thegap between the sector financing needs andthe amount that falls short of the banks’obligations to their lending to this prioritysector.

4. National Bioenergy Mission: Biomassenergy for electricity generation has turnedout to be one of the most attractive sourcesof power which is scalable, has the largestpotential for improving energy access andwhich can be linked to generatingadditional rural income. In view of thesuccess of such biomass-based off-grid


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renewable models in rural areas of Bihar, itis proposed to launch the Biomass Missionwith an objective to create a policyframework for attracting investment andto facilitate rapid development ofcommercial biomass energy market basedon utilisation of surplus agro-residues anddevelopment of energy plantations.

5. Renewable Power Evacuation Infra-structure: Special emphasis will be placedon creating evacuation infrastructure andtransmission facilities for renewable powerin a time-bound manner to support thelarge expansion in consumption andproduction of renewable power. Judiciousplanning of transmission system, that is,creating pooling substation for cluster ofrenewable power generators andconnecting them with receiving station ofSTU/CTU at appropriate voltage level, willlead to optimal utilisation of transmissionsystem.

6. National Biomass Cook Stove Programme:The proposed initiative plans to universaliseaccess of improved biomass cook stoves byproviding assistance in exploring a rangeof technology deployments, biomassprocessing and delivery models leveragingpublic-private partnerships.

ACHIEVEMENTS IN POWER SECTORDURING THE PERIOD OF 11TH PLAN

• Capacity addition during the 11th Planperiod has been at 54,964 MW which is69.8 per cent of the original target and 88.1per cent of the reduced target of 62,374MW set in the Mid-term Appraisal (MTA).It is more than 2.5 times that of any of theearlier Plans.

• Total installed capacity as on 31 March2012, including renewable energy sourcesof the country was 1,99,877 MW. The shareof renewable energy capacity being about12.2 per cent.

• Total number of villages electrified tillMarch 2012 was about 5.6 lakhs, indicatingthat more than 93 per cent village

electrification has been achieved. However,a large number of small habitations stillremain unconnected.

• Various activities under different schemesof Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) andMinistry of Power (MoP) have resulted insaving in avoided power capacity of 11,000MW.

• Works relating to 18 units for life extensionaggregating to 1,931 MW and 69 units forrepair and maintenance (R&M) aggregatingto 17,435 MW have been completed duringthe 11th Plan.

12TH PLAN PROGRAMME

The Working Group on Power has estimateda capacity addition requirement of 75,785 MWcorresponding to 9 per cent GDP growth duringthe Twelfth Plan period. However, in order tobridge the gap between peak demand and peakdeficit, and provide for faster retirement of theold energy-inefficient plants, the target for theTwelfth Plan has been fixed at 88,537 MW. Theshare of the private sector in the additionalcapacity will be 53 per cent, compared to a targetof 19 per cent in the Eleventh Plan. Since thegrowth rate of GDP for the Twelfth Plan is likelyto be 8.2 per cent and not 9 per cent, the targetfor capacity addition contain an element of slackof about 10 per cent.

The share of power based on non-fossil fuelplants is very low at present and should beincreased over time to promote low carbongrowth strategy. The share of coal and lignite inthe additional capacity being created during theTwelfth Plan is 79 per cent, up from 76 per centin the target from the Eleventh Plan whichactually ended up at 79 per cent. The projectedcapacity addition in non-fossil fuel plants coversaddition of hydro capacity of 1,0897 MW andnuclear capacity of 5,300 MW. Besides this, 1,200MW import of hydro power from Bhutan hasalso been considered. In addition, it is plannedto add a grid interactive renewable capacityaddition of about 30,000 MW comprising of15,000 MW wind, 10,000 MW solar, 2,100 smallhydro, and the balance primarily from bio mass.

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