It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
India’s leading power company, Adani Power Limited (NSE: ADANIPOWER), has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, Adani Atomic Energy Limited, marking its formal entry into the country’s nuclear power generation industry at a time when New Delhi has tweaked its nuclear energy policy framework to open the sector to the private sector.
According to a stock exchange filing by Mumbai-listed Adani Power, the new subsidiary was incorporated in India on February 11, 2026, after securing the certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies. The new company will generate, transmit and distribute nuclear-based power. The move also indicates Adani Power’s desire to diversify beyond thermal and renewable assets.
Adani Atomic Energy Limited has been set up with authorised capital of INR0.5mn divided into 50,000 equity shares of INR10 each, fully subscribed in cash by the parent company, which retains 100% ownership.
Adani's decision aligns well with a broader transformation in the country’s nuclear policy landscape. The Government of India late last year introduced the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025, aimed at modernising and consolidating the nation’s nuclear legal architecture while preparing the sector for large-scale expansion.
For decades, India’s nuclear energy sector operated under the framework dating back to the early years of the country’s atomic programme, with operations mainly in the hands of state-owned companies and under a highly controlled environment. While this ensured strategic oversight and safety, the framework hindered the speed at which nuclear capacity could grow to meet increasing energy demand and decarbonisation goals.
The SHANTI framework looks to address these constraints by creating a unified legislative structure that eases licensing, strengthens safety oversight and introduces clearer regulatory and liability mechanisms. A main feature of the new framework is the statutory recognition of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, strengthening its authority and institutional independence as nuclear capacity expands.
The most striking feature of the framework from the point of view of industry players is that the legislation allows controlled private participation in nuclear power generation and selected supply-chain activities. These include plant operations, component manufacturing and certain stages of nuclear fuel processing under strict regulatory supervision. However, strategically sensitive areas, such as enrichment, reprocessing, management of spent fuel and high-level waste, remain in the domain of the central government and its institutions.
The new law also introduces graded liability structures instead of a single liability cap, allowing liability limits to vary depending on the type and characteristics of nuclear installations. This endeavour is to balance investor confidence with public safety safeguards while making financing of nuclear projects much smoother, which invariably require long investment horizons and large capital deployment.
The Indian government sees nuclear power as highly strategic for India’s energy transition, especially as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind grow rapidly but need reliable round-the-clock backup generation. Nuclear power offers stable, low-carbon baseload electricity without the intermittency challenges associated with renewable sources, making it attractive for supporting energy-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, data centres and urban infrastructure.
Nuclear power at present contributes only a small fraction of overall electricity generation, though capacity enhancement plans are ambitious. Indigenous reactor programmes and international technology partnerships are likely to increase installed nuclear capacity over the next few years, while the government has also announced a long-term mission to increase nuclear energy capacity significantly by 2047 as part of the country’s clean energy strategy.
Within this evolving policy framework, Adani Power’s move signals growing private-sector interest in positioning for participation in future nuclear projects. The Adani Group has already become as one of India’s biggest privately-owned power generators across thermal and renewable energy. Its entry into the nuclear power space could provide long-term portfolio diversification while supporting national clean energy goals.
The incorporation of a dedicated nuclear subsidiary suggests that private energy companies are beginning to prepare for the next phase of India’s power sector evolution. As policy reforms under the SHANTI framework move forward and operational guidelines emerge, participation by large infrastructure players could accelerate development of domestic supply chains, advanced reactor technologies and long-term clean energy capacity.
India’s nuclear energy mission
According to data from the Department of Atomic Energy, India currently has 24 nuclear reactors across seven locations, with a combined installed capacity of 8.78 GW.
These plants are located in the western, northern and southern parts of the country. Most of the reactors are indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), supplemented by Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) and Russian-designed VVER reactors.
The Indian government in the Union Budget 2025-26 announced allocation of INR200bn to drive design, development and deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The target is to have at least five indigenously designed SMRs to be operational by 2033, strengthening India’s clean energy roadmap.
Some of the initiatives of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) include 200 MWe Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR‑200), 55 Mwe (Megawatt electrical) SMR‑55, up to 5 MWth (Megawatt thermal) High‑temperature gas‑cooled reactor for hydrogen generation.
When it comes to strategic aim, the government wants to position India as a leader in advanced nuclear technologies while ensuring sustainable energy security with long term goals to achieve 100 GW by 2047.
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
US tech giant Nvidia announces India deals at AI summit
US artificial intelligence chip titan Nvidia unveiled tie-ups with Indian computing firms on Wednesday as tech companies rushed to announce deals and investments at a global AI conference in New Delhi.
This week’s AI Impact Summit is the fourth annual gathering to discuss how to govern the fast-evolving technology — and also an opportunity to “define India’s leadership in the AI decade ahead”, organisers say.
Mumbai cloud and data centre provider L&T said it was teaming up with Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, to build what it touted as “India’s largest gigawatt-scale AI factory”.
“We are laying the foundation for world-class AI infrastructure that will power India’s growth,” said Nvidia boss Jensen Huang in a statement that did not put a figure on the investment.
L&T said it would use Nvidia’s powerful processors, which can train and run generative AI tech, to provide data centre capacity of up to 30 megawatts in Chennai and 40 megawatts in Mumbai.
Nvidia said it was also working with other Indian AI infrastructure players such as Yotta, which will deploy more than 20,000 top-end Nvidia Blackwell processors as part of a $2 billion investment.
Dozens of world leaders and ministerial delegations have come to India for the summit to discuss the opportunities and threats, from job losses to misinformation, that AI poses.
Last year India leapt to third place — overtaking South Korea and Japan — in an annual global ranking of AI competitiveness calculated by Stanford University researchers.
But despite plans for large-scale infrastructure and grand ambitions for innovation, experts say the country has a long way to go before it can rival the United States and China.
– Hyperscale –
The conference has also brought a flurry of deals, with IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw saying Tuesday that India expects more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years, including roughly $90 billion already committed.
Separately, India’s Adani Group said Tuesday it plans to invest $100 billion by 2035 to develop “hyperscale AI-ready data centres”, a boost to New Delhi’s push to become a global AI hub.
Microsoft said it was investing $50 billion this decade to boost AI adoption in developing countries, while US artificial intelligence startup Anthropic and Indian IT giant Infosys said they would work together to build AI agents for the telecoms industry.
Nvidia’s Huang is not attending the AI summit but other top US tech figures joining include OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected to deliver a statement at the end of the week about how they plan to address concerns raised by AI technology.
But experts say that the broad focus of the event and vague promises made at previous global AI summits in France, South Korea and Britain mean that concrete commitments are unlikely.
Nick Patience, practice lead for AI at tech research group Futurum, told AFP that nonbinding declarations could still “set the tone for what acceptable AI governance looks like”.
But “the largest AI companies deploy capabilities at a pace that makes 18-month legislative cycles look glacial,” Patience said.
“So it’s a case of whether governments can converge fast enough to create meaningful guardrails before de facto standards are set by the companies themselves.”
Uncut gems: Indian startups embrace AI despite job fears
An Indian firm is using AI to design intricate brooches and other jewellery which are then handmade by artisans - Copyright AFP Arun SANKAR
Katie Forster and Uzmi Athar
Glinting under the exhibition centre lights, the gold brooch studded with gemstones on the startup founder’s lapel was handmade by Indian artisans — but artificial intelligence dreamt up its elaborate design.
The brooch, in the shape of Hindu deity Lord Krishna, is an emblem of both the fast-developing power of AI technology and hopes it will drive innovation in India’s youthful economy.
Siddharth Soni, 23, showed AFP a box of AI-designed jewellery, mostly in classical Indian style, made by the company Idea Jewellery which he co-founded in 2023.
“Jewellery like this used to take around six months, seven months” to manufacture using traditional methods, said Soni, at a global AI summit in New Delhi.
Now, using a 3D-printed mould based on an AI blueprint, and streamlining the process in other ways, “I can make this piece in one week” with a few more needed for hallmarking, he said.
Tech bosses and world leaders are gathered in the Indian capital this week to discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, including the threat of mass redundancies and loss of human expertise.
Soni’s startup is a new direction for his decades-old family jewellery manufacturing business in the city of Hyderabad.
He said his father was “excited” about the new venture and “wants to take it all over the world” so retailers in places like the United States can offer custom AI-designed Indian jewellery.
At the same time, his father and grandfather, both in the industry for around 30 years, are conflicted because they believe “artisans should not lose their imagination”, Soni said.
“We’re losing the form of art, basically, by using AI,” but even so, “we have to move forward.”
– ‘Very uncomfortable’ –
Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the AI summit “shows the capability of our country’s youth” as “further proof that our country is progressing rapidly” in technology.
India’s government is expecting $200 billion in AI investment in the next two years, with plans to build large-scale data centres and nuclear power plants to run them.
Idea Jewellery, which does not receive government support but would like to, is in talks with 20 retailers including well-known brands in major cities who are already clients of the long-running family business.
On a tool powered by a fine-tuned version of Google’s Gemini, customers can specify the type of metal, precious stones and price range of their jewellery, and describe their desired style with a simple text prompt.
The tool shows examples of the piece and can then produce a detailed 3D model to be turned by hand into real jewellery.
Some of the workers, who have spent years mastering their craft and usually spend weeks designing a piece of jewellery, are “very uncomfortable with it” and fear their jobs could eventually disappear, Soni admitted.
However they are still making the AI-designed pieces, “because it’s their livelihood”.
– New fields –
The AI boom has brought huge profits for tech giants and sprouted many startups worldwide, but the bubble could pop if the frenzied excitement loses momentum.
For now, governments and companies are bullish that AI innovation will benefit society, from helping teachers educate large populations to better personalising medical care.
Peush Bery’s startup, Xtreme Gen AI, sells a voice chat tool that can answer and make calls for Indian businesses in a dozen local languages.
It’s a competitive field, but the company hopes to carve out a niche by offering smaller businesses a customised tool that they don’t need technical know-how to implement.
Different accents and India’s noisy streets can make accuracy a challenge. But as the technology improves and becomes more affordable, it could threaten the country’s huge call centre industry.
Bery remains optimistic. “New jobs come up, new fields come up,” such as working with data to improve the AI models, he said.
Another startup, Soil Doctor, has offered AI-powered soil testing to 500 farms across 10 Indian states, working with NGOs to run programmes with rural women and youth.
The government could help the company by granting access to historical agricultural data that it currently does not have, said Soil Doctor’s chief of staff Vartika Gupta.
AI technology can “benefit farmers big time”, helping them save money by buying fertiliser better targeted to their soil type, Gupta said.
“Season after season, at a much lower input cost, they will be able to achieve an increased yield.”
India’s tougher AI social media rules spark censorship fears
A man passes by a mural depicting various social media apps in Bangalore on March 22, 2018 - Copyright AFP/File Manjunath KIRAN
Parvaiz BUKHARI
India has tightened rules governing the use of artificial intelligence on social media to combat a flood of disinformation, but also prompting warnings of censorship and an erosion of digital freedoms.
The new regulations are set to take effect on February 20 — the final day of an international AI summit in New Delhi featuring leading global tech figures — and will sharply reduce the time platforms have to remove content deemed problematic.
With more than a billion internet users, India is grappling with AI-generated disinformation swamping social media.
Companies such as Instagram, Facebook and X will have three hours, down from 36, to comply with government takedown orders, in a bid to stop damaging posts from spreading rapidly.
Stricter regulation in the world’s most populous country ups the pressure on social media giants facing growing public anxiety and regulatory scrutiny globally over the misuse of AI, including the spread of misinformation and sexualised imagery of children.
But rights groups say tougher oversight of AI if applied too broadly risks eroding freedom of speech.
India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already faced accusations from rights groups of curbs on freedom of expression targeting activists and opponents, which his government denies.
The country has also slipped in global press freedom rankings during his tenure.
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital‑rights group, said the compressed timeframe of the social media take-down notices would force platforms to become “rapid-fire censors”.
– ‘Automated censorship’ –
Last year, India’s government launched an online portal called Sahyog — meaning “cooperate” in Hindi — to automate the process of sending takedown notices to platforms including X and Facebook.
The latest rules have been expanded to apply to content “created, generated, modified or altered through any computer resource” except material changed during routine or good‑faith editing.
Platforms must now clearly and permanently label synthetic or AI‑manipulated media with markings that cannot be removed or suppressed.
Under the new rules, problematic content could disappear almost immediately after a government notification.
The timelines are “so tight that meaningful human review becomes structurally impossible at scale”, said IFF chief Apar Gupta.
The system, he added, shifts control “decisively away from users”, with “grievance processes and appeals operate on slower clocks”, Gupta added.
Most internet users were not informed of authorities’ orders to delete their content.
“It is automated censorship,” digital rights activist Nikhil Pahwa told AFP.
The rules also require platforms to deploy automated tools to prevent the spread of illegal content, including forged documents and sexually abusive material.
“Unique identifiers are un-enforceable,” Pahwa added. “It’s impossible to do for infinite synthetic content being generated.”
Gupta likewise questioned the effectiveness of labels.
“Metadata is routinely stripped when content is edited, compressed, screen-recorded, or cross-posted,” he said. “Detection is error-prone.”
– ‘Online hate’ –
The US-based Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), in a report with the IFF, warned the laws “may encourage proactive monitoring of content which may lead to collateral censorship”, with platforms likely to err on the side of caution.
The regulations define synthetic data as information that “appears to be real” or is “likely to be perceived as indistinguishable from a natural person or real-world event.”
Gupta said the changes shift responsibility “upstream” from users to the platforms themselves.
“Users must declare if content is synthetic, and platforms must verify and label before publication,” said Gupta.
But he warned that the parameters for takedown are broad and open to interpretation.
“Satire, parody, and political commentary using realistic synthetic media can get swept in, especially under risk-averse enforcement,” Gupta said.
At the same time, widespread access to AI tools has “enabled a new wave of online hate “facilitated by photorealistic images, videos, and caricatures that reinforce and reproduce harmful stereotypes”, the CSOH report added.
In the most recent headline-grabbing case, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok sparked outrage in January when it was used to make millions of sexualised images of women and children, by allowing users to alter online images of real people.
“The government had to act because platforms are not behaving responsibly,” Pahwa said.
Junk to high-tech: India bets on e-waste for critical minerals
Workers dismantle discarded monitors at 'Ecowork', an e-waste recycling facility in Ghaziabad, India - Copyright AFP Punit PARANJPE
Arunabh SAIKIA and Uzmi ATHAR
Hundreds of discarded batteries rattle along a conveyor belt into a crusher in a remote plant in northern India, fuelling a multi-billion-dollar industry that is bolstering the country’s geopolitical ambitions.
India is cashing in on the growing “e-waste” sector — pulling critical minerals like lithium and cobalt, which are needed to make everything from smartphones to fighter jets and electric cars, from everyday electronics.
Global jitters about China’s dominance as a critical minerals producer has kicked New Delhi into action, ramping up extraction of the materials that are essential for its drive to become an artificial intelligence hub.
With demand expected to soar and domestic mining unlikely to deliver meaningful output for at least a decade, the country is turning to an often‑overlooked source — the swelling mountains of electronic waste.
Dead batteries yield lithium, cobalt and nickel; LED screens contain germanium; circuit boards hold platinum and palladium; hard disks store rare earths — e‑waste has long been described as a “gold mine” for critical minerals.
India generated nearly 1.5 million tonnes of e‑waste last year, according to official data — enough to fill 200,000 garbage trucks — though experts believe the real figure is likely to be twice as much.
At Exigo Recycling’s sprawling plant in Haryana state, a machine churns the batteries from e-scooters into a jet-black powder.
The material is then leached into a wine‑red liquid, filtered, evaporated and finally transformed into a fine white powder — lithium.
“White gold,” said the facility’s lead scientist, watching the final product collect in trays.
– Backyard workshops –
Industry estimates suggest “urban mining” — the recovery of minerals from e‑waste — could be worth up to $6 billion annually.
While insufficient to meet India’s projected demand, analysts say it could help absorb import shocks and strengthen supply chains.
Most e‑waste, however, is still dismantled in informal backyard workshops that extract easily saleable metals such as copper and aluminium, leaving critical minerals untapped.
India’s formal recycling capacity remains limited compared to China and the European Union, both of which have invested heavily in advanced recovery technologies and traceability systems.
India has a “100 percent import dependency” for key critical minerals including lithium, cobalt and nickel, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Seeking to close the gap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government approved a $170‑million programme last year to boost formal recycling of critical minerals.
The programme builds on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules, which require manufacturers to collect and channel e‑waste to government-registered recyclers.
“EPR has acted as a primary catalyst in terms of bringing scale to the recycling industry,” said Raman Singh, managing director at Exigo Recycling, one of the few Indian facilities able to extract lithium.
Other analysts agree the rules have redirected more waste into the formal sector.
“Before EPR was fully implemented, 99 percent of e-waste was being recycled in the informal sector,” said Nitin Gupta of Attero Recycling, which says it can recover at least 22 critical minerals.
“About 60 percent has now moved to formal.”
Government data suggests an even higher shift, though critics say the figures are inflated due to poor tracking of total e‑waste generation.
More than 80 percent of India’s e-waste is still processed informally, according to a United Nations Development Programme note in October.
– Rife with hazards –
Indian government-backed think‑tank NITI Aayog warned that organised recycling lagged behind both policy targets and the rapid growth in waste volumes.
Informal recycling is rife with hazards — open burning, acid baths and unprotected dismantling expose workers to toxic fumes and contaminate soil and water.
A bulk of India’s e‑waste still flowed through informal channels, leading to “loss of critical minerals”, said Sandip Chatterjee, senior adviser at Sustainable Electronics Recycling International.
“India’s informal sector remains the backbone of waste collection and sorting,” he told AFP.
In Seelampuri, a low‑income Delhi neighbourhood home to one of India’s largest informal e‑waste hubs, narrow alleys spill over with tangled cables and broken devices.
“The new companies just keep enough for certification, but the rest still comes to us,” said Shabbir Khan, a local trader. “Business has increased… not gone down.”
Even the junk that eventually reaches formal recyclers often passes through informal hands first, Chatterjee said.
“Integrating informal actors into traceable supply chains could substantially reduce” loss of valuable critical minerals at the sorting and dismantling stages, he said.
Ecowork, India’s only authorised non‑profit e‑waste recycler, is attempting that through training and safe workspaces.
“Our training covers dismantling and the (full) process for informal workers,” said operations manager Devesh Tiwari.
“We tell them about the hazards, the valuable critical minerals, and how they can do it the right way so the material’s value doesn’t drop.”
At its facility on the outskirts of Delhi, Rizwan Saifi expertly dismantled a discarded hard drive, slicing out a permanent magnet destined for an advanced recycler, where it will be shredded to recover dysprosium — a rare‑earth metal essential to modern electronics.
“Earlier all we would care about was copper and aluminium because that is what was high-value in the scrap market,” Saifi, 20, said.
“But now we know how valuable this magnet is.”
Monday, January 26, 2026
India’s solar-panel boom: full throttle today, uncertain tomorrow
India, driven by soaring electricity demand is rapidly producing solar panels, fuelling a booming yet uncertain market - Copyright AFP Shammi MEHRA Philippe ALFROY
The race for green energy is on. India, driven by soaring electricity demand and a push to reduce reliance on China, is rapidly producing solar panels, fuelling a booming yet uncertain market.
At the Adani Group’s factory in Mundra, in India’s western state of Gujarat, assembly lines churn out photovoltaic panels around the clock.
Up to 10,000 a day come off the line, with most sent straight to Khavda, further north, where the Indian conglomerate is finishing what will be the world’s largest solar park.
But Adani Solar’s CEO, Muralee Krishnan, says operations are “actually lagging”.
“Our capacity needs to be fully used — we should work 48 hours a day.”
The intensity is matched by other major producers in the world’s most populous nation.
At the Tata conglomerate factory in Tirunelveli, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, 4,000 mostly women employees also work non-stop shifts.
“They operate 24/7, so you get better yield, better efficiency, better productivity,” said Praveer Sinha, CEO of Tata Power.
“You cannot stop the production line… there is a rush to produce to maximise the output.”
With the twin imperatives of development and lower carbon emissions, India has set itself ambitious renewable energy targets.
Last year, it said half its electricity-generation capacity was now “green”, five years ahead of the timeline set in the Paris Agreement on lowering emissions.
But 75 percent of electricity is still generated by coal-fired power plants, with inflexible operations and long-term coal power purchase agreements hampering renewable uptake.
– ‘Make in India’ –
There are signs of change.
Last year, coal-fired power generation fell three percent, only the second full-year drop recorded in half a decade, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Renewable capacity of 230 gigawatts (GW) is set to rise to 500 GW by 2030, including 280 GW of solar.
But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed another constraint on the industry: “Make in India.”
That means there is no question of importing solar panels from China, which supplies 90 percent of the world’s market.
All public tenders require “local” production, which India supports with substantial subsidies that have attracted big businesses.
Tata, a pioneer in solar panels since the 1990s, has been joined by Adani and Reliance, which have built state-of-the-art, highly automated factories.
“The quality of the product is very, very critical,” said Ashish Khanna, CEO Adani Green Energy.
“When you are building a project of this size, you also need to be very reassured of the supply chain. We cannot have a disruption or interruption in that particular process.”
But for now, the technology and raw materials still come from China.
And Beijing has complained to the World Trade Organization over the subsidies and restrictions on its solar panels.
The solar push is so intense that Adani is considering silicon mining to secure a key raw material, company insiders say, and there are suggestions Tata Power is eyeing in-house silicon-wafer production.
– ‘A huge market’ –
Growth in the sector is already staggering, with solar manufacturing capacity expected to soon exceed 125 GW, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie said.
But that is triple current domestic demand, according to Wood Mackenzie analyst Yana Hryshko.
Government incentives have “been highly effective in spurring factory announcements, but the industry is now seeing warning signs of rapid overcapacity”, Hryshko said in a report last year.
The sector’s long-term sustainability may therefore depend on exports, with some companies already targeting global markets.
“Solar is a huge market: the world will see it doubling, from 2,000 GW to 4,000 GW in four years,” said Ashish Khanna, head of the International Solar Alliance.
“The question is now — will Indian manufacturers be globally competitive compared to China?”
Tejpreet Chopra, from the private power company Bharat Light and Power, points out that “the problem is that it’s cheaper to import from China than to buy local”.
And the level of manufacturing in China “is so much higher that it’s very difficult to match”, he added.
The sector also faces “geopolitical” headwinds from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with Chopra adding that they make it “very difficult to sell to the United States”.
Despite these challenges, the head of Tata Power, which does not yet export, remains convinced his business has a bright future.
“We strongly believe,” said Praveer Sinha, “that solar will play a very important role in the renewable space of India.” FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailShare
Monday, January 19, 2026
Adani’s Mannar Wind Project In Sri Lanka: Is The Opposition Unmasked At Last? – Analysis
Development-related environmental debates in Sri Lanka rarely stay rooted in ecology—they are almost always colored by politics. The abandoned Adani wind power project in Mannar is a striking example.
Not long ago, selective Colombo-based “environmentalists” thundered against the Indian conglomerate, branding its plans as ecological disasters. Yet today, as a near-identical project advances under a local company, those same voices have fallen conspicuously silent. Was their outrage truly about protecting the environment—or was it stirred by a hidden geopolitical hand?
Recent reports indicate that 28 Pakistani nationals and two Chinese nationals engaged in Mannar’s wind project have departed following the completion of turbine installation. It has also been noted that two Pakistani workers, while venturing into the sea, were subsequently intercepted by Sri Lankan security forces. One might reasonably reflect—had the Adani project proceeded as originally envisioned, such circumstances may well have been avoided.
Viewed in this light, the opposition to Adani’s initiative appears less an expression of ecological concern and more a matter shaped by broader political considerations.
On January 15, 2025, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake inaugurated the construction of a 50megawatt wind farm in Mannar, developed by Hayleys Fentons Limited. Scheduled for completion in March 2027, the project is part of the government’s pledge to achieve netzero carbon emissions by 2050.
Mannar has long been recognized as one of Sri Lanka’s most promising renewable energy hubs. It was this very potential that drew Adani Green Energy, which proposed a 250 MW wind power project in the region. Yet, shortsighted local opposition forced the plan’s abandonment.
The Adani Group and India suffered no loss. But for Sri Lanka, it was the loss of a significant opportunity to harness clean energy and strengthen its power grid. The episode underscores a troubling pattern: environmental concerns seem to erupt most fiercely only when the projects carry an Indian nameplate.
At the time, Adani’s investment represented the first major foreign capital inflow since Sri Lanka’s bankruptcy during its historic economic crisis. Had it gone ahead, the project would have spurred development in the Northern Province. In January 2023, the Board of Investment approved a $422 million plan for Mannar and Pooneryn, expected to generate 484 MW of electricity—one of the largest green energy projects in the country.
However, the Mannar project faced a fundamental rights petition filed by Bishop Emmanuel Fernando and three environmentalists, who questioned the credibility of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and warned of potential financial losses. Yet the EIA—covering bird and bat studies—was conducted by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority under the leadership of Professor Devaka Weerakoon of the University of Colombo. Despite this, the environmentalists sought to discredit the findings, claiming the wind farm would become a “death trap” for migratory birds.
Globally, however, countries have adopted mitigation strategies. India’s 1,500 MW Muppandal Wind Farm—close to Sri Lanka—operates despite similar concerns. In Norway, researchers found that painting one rotor blade black reduced bird mortality by 70 percent. Studies in the U.S. estimate wind turbines kill between 140,000 and 679,000 birds annually—a tiny fraction compared to the billions killed by buildings or domestic cats. Fossil fuel projects are far deadlier, with 5.18 birds killed per gigawatthour of electricity compared to just 0.269 for wind.
Yet Colombobased environmental groups opposing Adani never highlighted these facts or proposed alternatives. Instead, they misled local communities, with religious leaders echoing flawed guidance. This begs the question: will the 50 MW projects now underway not harm birds? Will migratory species be spared?
The silence following Adani’s withdrawal suggests the protests were less about ecology and more about politics—specifically, blocking Indian investment. Meanwhile, far more environmentally damaging projects, such as the Chineseowned power plant in Nurisolai, escape scrutiny. This selective activism illustrates how environmental concerns in Sri Lanka have been politicized.
Wind power projects worldwide have not been abandoned because of bird deaths. Instead, governments and companies have introduced strategies to mitigate harm. Norway’s experiments with rotor blade painting, UV lighting, and micrositing of turbines show that innovation can reduce risks. Tamil Nadu, with its forwardlooking approach, is positioned to attract €72 billion in offshore wind investment by 2030. Sri Lanka could have shared in this momentum, but the Mannar opportunity was lost to politicized environmental activism.
The broader truth is that every development project carries an environmental cost. Countries that have successfully implemented wind farms have accepted this reality, balancing ecological concerns with the urgent need for clean energy. Sri Lanka’s activists, however, seem to apply their scrutiny selectively. When Indian projects are proposed, opposition is fierce; when Chinese projects advance, silence prevails.
This inconsistency undermines the credibility of environmental advocacy. If the true goal is sustainability, then all projects—regardless of origin—should be judged by the same standards. Otherwise, Sri Lanka risks allowing political agendas to derail its path to renewable energy.
The Mannar case is a cautionary tale. By blocking Adani’s project, Sri Lanka lost not only foreign investment but also a chance to accelerate its transition to clean energy. The government’s target of 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and netzero emissions by 2050 will remain a distant dream if antidevelopment narratives dominate.
The question remains: was the opposition to Adani’s project truly about protecting birds, or was it about preventing Indian investment in Mannar? The disappearance of protesters after the project’s cancellation suggests the latter. Meanwhile, the new 50 MW project will inevitably face similar ecological challenges. Will migratory birds be spared this time, or will silence prevail because the developer is local?
The Mannar wind farm controversy is not merely about turbines and birds. It is about Sri Lanka’s future—whether the nation will embrace renewable energy with pragmatism, or remain entangled in politicized debates that stall progress. If selective activism continues to dominate, the aspiration of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 risks becoming symbolic rather than substantive.
A. Jathindra is the head of the think tank Trinco Centre for Strategic Studies (TSST) and a Sri Lankan-based independent political analyst.
Monday, January 12, 2026
INDIA
New Labour Codes: TUs Pledge to Make Feb 12 General Strike ‘Unprecedented’
Workers across sectors, such as insurance, banks, electricity, informal sector as well as agri workers and farmers plan to join the strike.
New Delhi: Amid rousing slogans for workers unity, 10 central trade unions (CTUs) in a National Convention held at Harkishen Singh Surjeet Bhawan last week-end pledged to ensure that the General Strike call on February 12 “will see unprecedented participation” of workers across sectors, including the informal sector.
Addressing the convention, trade union leaders said that the Centre notifying the new Labour Codes meant the “imminent loss of the right to form unions and collective bargaining” opening up new avenues for workers’ exploitation.
While the Narendra Modi government argues that the new Labour Codes will ensure that workers are recruited and compensated fairly along with “easing the rules for doing business”, the CTUs drew attention to provisions, such as relaxing the working hours, new definition of wages and no relief in case of occupational hazards.
In solidarity, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a collective of farmers unions, has also announced that it would mobilise farmers and agricultural workers in the February 12 strike in solidarity, and as their protest against the Draft Seeds Bill and Draft Electricity Amendment Bill.
Addressing the convention, Amarjit Kaur, general secretary, All India Trade Union Congress or AITUC, said workers cannot view this attack on their right in isolation. “We are part of the trade union movement, which on May 1 (Labour Day) raises the slogan of ‘Workers of the world, unite!'. We are comrades of trade unions who fought across the entire world to ensure fixed working hours. We are humans, not animals. We will work for eight hours, rest for eight hours, and give eight hours to our families. This struggle began in Chicago in 1886, spread throughout the world, and gained momentum after the October Revolution in Russia in 1917. The struggle intensified, and more labour organisations took to the streets across the globe,” she said.
Reminding workers of the immense struggles and sacrifices, Kaur said: “This is our history of fighting and struggling the 19th Century onward. In that struggle, we have stood together with each other all over the world. We have never been in favour of wars; we have always spoken of peace and tranquility in every corner of the world. But what are we seeing now? Mr. (Donald) Trump, who threatens India with with tariffs of 25%, and if we buy oil from Russia, another 25%, making it 50%, and recently, 100%, 600%. He just says anything. Is this just talk? No.
The AITUC leader flayed the way Venezuela was attacked, its elected President and his spouse and comrade were abducted, “and now US says it will attack Cuba, destroy Mexico, and destroy Brazil. This global policing and thievery are not happening in isolation; they are not separate.” She added that this was happening “because for several decades, capitalism across the world has been facing a crisis. It is unable to emerge from its capitalist crisis, and for that purpose, we know how Iraq was destroyed under a false slogan, how Libya was devastated, and how the Taliban were prepared in Afghanistan, only to be fought against for 20 years, destroying Afghanistan, and then leaving those same Taliban in power."
Kaur pointed out how “repeatedly Iran is being threatened. We see how more than 65,000 people, half of whom were women and children, were killed in the Gaza Strip. We know well that they have no regard even for UN agencies; those who arrived to help from all over the world were also killed; those who brought grain and medicine were also killed. How Palestinians were attacked, attempts were made to destroy them, and genocide was attempted. What is this fight? This is a fight to capture the world's natural resources, to capture oil and gas, to capture markets and trade across the world to increase their own business, and to capture routes—whether by air, road, train, or sea and rivers."
The AITUC leader said that "therefore, in that entire international context, we must take the attack on our country more seriously.”
She appealed to all participants in the national convention, “all of you trade union colleagues sitting here, think collectively. You are residents of India, a country that has always shown the way to the world. The direction this country takes affects many other countries. So, if today the government in India is engaged in crushing and suppressing everyone, and trade unions protest, they want to silence them through Labour Codes. They want to snatch away our union rights.”
Kaur pointed out how 198 years ago, the workers of this country went on strike in Kolkata, Bengal, “and today they are snatching our right to strike. Today they are dumping all our social security laws; they are changing the way unions are formed in our country; they are making the de-registration and de-recognition of unions easy,” adding that “in every way, these Labour Codes are meant to throw us toward slavery.”
E Kareem, general secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions or CITU noted that the process of the curtailment of rights of workers had, in fact, begun several years ago. “Even before the introduction of the Labour Codes, labour rights were already being diluted through four simultaneous processes: procedural changes in labour administration directed at curtailing inspection to check on labour laws compliance along with the granting of exemptions and self-certification by the employers; legislative and executive changes directed at increasing flexible employment relations, allowing employers to hire temporary contract or casual workers rather than permanent employees; restructuring of the premises and principle of social security for workers by reducing employer's contribution, greater emphasis on limited private insurance, linking benefits to market behavior rather than assured public provisioning; and imposition of additional conditions and restraints on registration of trade unions and collective bargaining."
Kareem pointed out that before notifying the labour code, in Tamil Nadu, in a company owned by Samsung, workers formed a trade union. “It was not registered. The union applied for registration to the Labour Department, who denied the registration. After a two-month-long agitation, strike, and action, the government intervened. This is the situation.”
The CITU leader noted that a brief look at the provisions of the Labour Codes illustrated how these processes were set to be further entrenched in an intensive manner. “The Code on Wages, which repeals four existing laws, restricts the definition of employees or worker to those employed in establishment or industry. Thus, preceding private households omitted therefrom are the vast majority of especially women workers: domestic workers, gig and platform workers, auxiliary nurses, apprentices, home-based workers, scheme-based workers—that is including Asha, Anganwadi, MNREGA workers—and the rather absolutely named new names to the poor workers, 'Sisters and Friends”
Kareem said "a section of workers are named by government: Pashu Sakhi, Bank Sakhi, Vaidya Sakhi, Drone Didis. These are the new names of the workers. All these are left out of the definition of a worker or establishments where five or fewer workers are employed, which implies the exclusion of 98.6% of agricultural establishments and informal sector workers from any benefits.”
Other labour rights and protection achieved as a result of many long struggles have thus become non-applicable, he said, adding that “for instance, this code reverses the achievement of the historic movement of the bidi workers of Nipani through which they obtained houses, subsidies, housing, and the cancellation of wrongful deduction by contractors under the guise of their workers being rejected."
Harbhajan Singh Sidhu, general secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha or HMS said trade unions had already conducted five strikes. “This will be the sixth strike on February 12. The previous strike was on July 9, 2024. Every sector in the country contributed to it. However, some sectors among us did not join. They thought, 'Our jobs are permanent, our salaries are very good, and we have secured good facilities through our struggles.' But if a pigeon closes its eyes on seeing a cat, thinking the cat won't do anything, there can be no greater foolishness. The cat will get a great opportunity to strike you down without a second thought. And that is happening now,” he added.
The HMS leader pointed out that in the last Budget session of Parliament, what Bill did the government bring? “They introduced 49% FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in all our nationalised banks. If, within five or seven months, someone like Gautam Adani buys NDTV through the back door by purchasing its shares, you’ll wake up one morning to find all the banks have gone to Gautam Adani. And your entire insurance sector has opened 100% FDI to foreign investors. This means insurance is finished. Now, what choice is left for insurance employees? They will have to come and fight with us; they will join the movement because their jobs are at risk.”
Sindhu said “our banking comrades are fighters—they have fought before—and insurance workers have too. But right now, there is a fierce attack. All private banks in our country hold Rs 85 lakh crore of public domestic savings, and now foreign banks have entered all of them. Our domestic savings will also be taken over by foreign banks.”
Based on data documenting 14,875 violations, the Free Speech Collective’s latest report traces how killings, arrests, mass censorship, corporate pressure and regulatory overreach combined to shrink India’s public sphere in 2025.
Image: Human Rights Watch
According to the report Free Speech in India 2025: Behold the Hidden Hand, released by the Free Speech Collective (FSC) in December 2025, the past year marked one of the most severe erosions of free expression in India in recent history. Drawing on granular, nationwide data collected through its Free Speech Tracker, the report documents 14,875 instances of free speech violations in 2025 alone—ranging from killings and arrests to mass censorship, legal intimidation, and institutionalised regulation of speech. The report argues that these figures do not represent isolated excesses but point to a systematic, multi-layered assault on the constitutional right to free expression.
The report identifies the reported disappearance and killing of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar in Bastar in early January as emblematic of the dangers faced by those who speak truth to power. Chandrakar had reported on poor-quality road construction in the region shortly before he went missing; his body was later found in a septic tank. The FSC notes that this incident set the tone for a year in which nine people were killed for exercising their right to free speech, including eight journalists and one social media influencer. It underscores that violence against journalists—particularly those working in rural and semi-urban districts—remains one of the most visible and brutal forms of silencing.
Journalists as primary targets
The FSC report records 40 attacks on free speech actors in 2025, of which 33 targeted journalists. It notes that reporters covering local corruption, illegal mining, liquor mafias, and administrative failures were especially vulnerable. In several cases, the police initially attempted to attribute killings or deaths to personal disputes, accidents, or intoxication, even when the journalists had recently published sensitive stories. The report highlights the case of Uttarakhand-based YouTuber Rajeev Pratap, whose body was recovered from the Bhagirathi, river days after he aired a video exposing liquor consumption inside a local hospital. Despite colleagues raising serious doubts, police claimed he had driven into the river while drunk.
The FSC further draws attention to the continued incarceration of journalists Irfan Mehraj and Rupesh Kumar under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, noting that their prolonged detention without trial exemplifies the use of counter-terror laws to suppress journalism. Threats and harassment accompanied physical violence: at least 14 of 19 harassment incidents and 12 of 17 recorded threats were directed at journalists engaged in professional work. The report cites, as illustrative, a threat by TDP MLA Gummanur Jayaram to force journalists “to sleep on railway tracks” if they published allegedly false information about him.
The return of sedition and criminal lawfare
One of the most troubling findings of the report is the resurgence of sedition prosecutions, despite repeated assurances that colonial-era speech offences had been rendered obsolete under the new criminal codes. The FSC documents multiple sedition cases filed in 2025 against satirists, journalists, and political commentators for online posts questioning state action.
The report details how satirists Neha Singh Rathore, Madri Kakoti (Dr Medusa), and Shamita Yadav (Ranting Gola) were charged with sedition for social media commentary following the Pahalgam attack. It flags the Allahabad High Court’s rejection of Rathore’s anticipatory bail as a significant departure from earlier judicial reluctance to allow sedition prosecutions for speech. The FSC also records the filing of sedition FIRs by Assam police against the leadership and columnists of The Wire, including founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and consulting editor Karan Thapar, as well as against journalist Abhisar Sarma for a YouTube programme that relied on publicly available judicial observations.
According to the report, these cases exemplify “lawfare”—the strategic use of criminal law not necessarily to secure convictions, but to intimidate, exhaust, and silence critical voices through prolonged legal processes.
Mass censorship and platform control
The largest category of violations documented by the FSC in 2025 relates to censorship and internet control, with 11,385 instances recorded. The report highlights mass government takedown requests to social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter). In May and July 2025 alone, over 10,000 accounts were withheld in India. Citing X’s submissions before the Karnataka High Court, the report notes that the platform received 29,118 takedown requests from the Indian government between January and June 2025 and complied with the overwhelming majority of them.
The FSC identifies the Sahyog portal as a key institutional mechanism enabling decentralised censorship by allowing state agencies, district officials, and local police to issue takedown notices directly to platforms. Following the Pahalgam attack, numerous accounts belonging to journalists, news organisations, and international media outlets—including The Wire, Maktoob Media, Reuters, and many senior journalists—were withheld without public disclosure of reasons. The report notes that the Karnataka High Court’s decision upholding the Sahyog portal effectively legitimised large-scale, opaque censorship of online speech.
The ‘Hidden Hand’: Self-censorship and corporate influence
Beyond formal orders, the FSC report devotes significant attention to what it terms the “hidden hand” of censorship: informal pressures, verbal directives, and institutional intimidation that rarely leave a documentary trail. The report cites instances of journalists receiving “friendly calls,” media houses quietly dropping stories, and investigative platforms being financially crippled through regulatory action, such as the revocation of The Reporter’s Collective’s tax-exempt status.
Corporate power, the report notes, increasingly intersected with state censorship. It documents the September 2025 ex-parte injunction obtained by Adani Enterprises leading to the takedown of over 200 pieces of online content critical of the company, as well as sustained attempts to suppress reporting on the Vantara wildlife project linked to Reliance Industries. Even where courts later set aside gag orders, the report observes that the chilling effect on media coverage persisted.
Academia, cinema, and the right to think
The FSC records at least 16 serious instances of censorship in academia, including the cancellation of conferences, denial of permissions, deportation of visiting scholars, and the revocation of OCI status of academics critical of the government. In Kashmir, the report notes, authorities banned 25 books on the region’s history and politics and raided bookstores.
In cinema, the report documents excessive cuts, prolonged certification delays, and outright denial of certification to films addressing caste violence, state abuse, or social injustice. It notes that even internationally acclaimed films and centenary classics were barred from screening, underscoring how certification had become a tool of prior restraint rather than classification.
An uneven judicial response
While acknowledging some notable judicial interventions in favour of free speech, the FSC concludes that the judiciary’s overall response in 2025 was inconsistent. The report contrasts strong Supreme Court observations protecting poetry, satire, and art with orders that imposed gag conditions, endorsed expansive censorship mechanisms, or demanded apologies from artists. This inconsistency, the report argues, has failed to provide a stable constitutional shield for free expression.
A shrinking democratic space
In its concluding assessment, the Free Speech Collective warns that the cumulative impact of violence, lawfare, mass censorship, corporate pressure, and regulatory overreach has fundamentally altered the conditions under which speech is exercised in India. The report cautions that free expression has not been extinguished outright, but increasingly conditioned, surveilled, and constrained, creating a climate in which self-censorship becomes a rational act of survival.
As the report starkly concludes, the “hidden hand” shaping India’s speech landscape in 2025 is no longer subtle—it has become structural.
Adani Group, the conglomerate of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, is in talks with the state government of India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state on a public-private partnership to build small modular reactors (SMRs) as India opens its nuclear energy sector to private investment.
Adani Group is in discussions with Uttar Pradesh officials to build eight SMRs with capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) each at yet-to-be-identified sites in the state, anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Friday.
A potential deal would give Adani’s conglomerate a total of 1.6 GW of total nuclear capacity with SMRs and could place the private firm at the forefront of India’s nuclear development.
Adani’s reported efforts to enter India’s nuclear power sector come as the country is opening its nuclear industry to private investment and participation as it seeks to boost domestic power capacity to meet soaring demand.
This week, the government said that its Nuclear Energy Mission targets 100 GW capacity by 2047 “through deployment of existing and emerging advanced nuclear technologies, both indigenous & with foreign cooperation.”
The federal government plans to spend as much as $2.23 billion (200 billion Indian rupees) on research and development of SMRs.
Earlier this year, a panel set up by India’s power ministry said in a report that India’s goal to boost its installed nuclear power capacity to 100 GW by 2047, up from just 8.8 GW now, would require as much as 19.28 trillion Indian rupees, or $214 billion at current exchange rates, of cumulative capital.
“Substantial technical and financial resources will be required for accelerated deployment of 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047,” the panel said.
“The private sector has abundant capital, and inherent efficiency in timely construction and innovation adaption.”
A public-private partnership with Adani would give the conglomerate an early-mover status in India’s new nuclear power industry.
Minister of State Jitendra Singh has tabled the bill proposing a new legal framework for India's nuclear sector in the Indian parliament.
Jitendra Singh tabled the SHANTI Bill in the Lok Sabha on 15 December (Image: Press Information Bureau)
The bill, approved by the Indian cabinet on 12 December, has been titled the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 - or SHANTI, for short. The proposed legislation seeks to repeal the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and replace them with a single, comprehensive law aligned with India's present and future energy requirements, according to a statement from the Department of Atomic Energy.
"According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons accompanying the Bill, sustained research and development have enabled India to achieve self-reliance across the nuclear fuel cycle and to operate its nuclear power programme in a responsible manner. With this experience in place, the government sees scope to significantly enhance nuclear installed capacity to support clean energy security and provide reliable round-the-clock power for emerging needs such as data centres and future-ready applications," the Department of Atomic Energy said.
India needs to harness its own nuclear resources more fully and enable "active participation of both public and private sectors, while also positioning India as a contributor to the global nuclear energy ecosystem" if it is to meet its decarbonisation goals and its target of achieving 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047, the department said.
As well as provisions on licensing and regulation for nuclear and radiation technologies in areas such as healthcare, food and agriculture, industry and research, the bill "proposes a revised and pragmatic civil liability framework for nuclear damage, confers statutory status on the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, and strengthens mechanisms related to safety, security, safeguards, quality assurance and emergency preparedness".
The bill will also enable private companies, including joint ventures and other entities, to apply for licences to set up and operate nuclear facilities and to transport nuclear fuel. Some activities - including uranium enrichment, the management of used fuel and heavy water production - will continue to remain under the exclusive control of the central government.
"By introducing the Bill, the government has signalled its intent to modernise nuclear governance in line with India's energy transition, technological progress and international obligations," the Department of Atomic Energy said. "The proposed legislation seeks to balance expansion of nuclear energy with safety, accountability and public interest, placing nuclear power within the broader national effort towards energy security and a lower-carbon future."
According to World Nuclear Association information, India currently has 24 operable nuclear reactors totalling 7,943 MW of capacity, with six reactors - 4,768 MW - under construction. (The Indian government often classes two units at Gorakhpur where site works have begun as being under construction, although the first concrete for the reactor buildings has not yet been poured.) A further 10 units - some 7 GW of capacity - are in pre-project stages. But India's Atomic Energy Act of 1962 prohibits private control of nuclear power generation: only government-owned enterprises Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and BHAVINI are legally allowed to own and operate nuclear power plants in India, and private sector companies and foreign investors are not allowed to invest directly in nuclear power.
Pre-feasibility study launched for Estonian SMR plant
Samsung C&T, in collaboration with Fermi Energia AS, has been selected to receive funding support from the South Korean government for a pre-feasibility study related to Estonia's planned small modular reactor power project.
A visualisation of a two unit BWRX-300 power plant (Image: Fermi Energia)
The study will analyse the technical, financial, legal, and market aspects of deploying advanced small modular reactor (SMR) technology in Estonia, supporting Fermi Energia's ongoing national designated spatial planning process.
One key component is a market study. This will comprise a comprehensive analysis of existing and planned dispatchable generation assets above 50 MW in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, including capacity, technology, lifecycle, financial indicators, and ownership strategies. The study will also assess policy trends, carbon pricing impacts, and future capacity outlook, with Polish and Finnish data analysed at an aggregate level. The analysis will be conducted in cooperation with professional services firm Deloitte Latvia SIA.
The pre-feasibility study will also include an assessment supporting Estonia's National Designated Spatial Planning site selection process. This will include construction transport and logistics mapping, workforce needs, accommodation and service solutions, construction organisation and area-of-influence analysis, and a preliminary foundation and layout study for the reactor building and supporting infrastructure. The work will be conducted in cooperation with Estonian engineering company Norte OÜ.
Samsung C&T will deliver the final report in April 2026.
"This cooperation with Samsung C&T marks another important milestone in Estonia's journey toward introducing safe, modern, and reliable nuclear power," said Fermi Energia CEO Kalev Kallemets. "The study will provide practical inputs for planning, supply chain preparation, and investment readiness."
In April this year, Fermi Energia and Samsung C&T signed a teaming agreement to collaborate on the deployment of two BWRX-300 SMRs in Estonia. Under the teaming agreement, the cooperation between Fermi Energia and Samsung C&T will focus on key aspects of the project, including the formation of an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) partnership, site constructability review, cost estimation, and financing strategies. The agreement also positions Samsung C&T as a potential EPC Prime Contractor and key commercial partner in the Estonian SMR project. This collaboration built upon a memorandum of understanding signed between the two companies in November 2024.
Fermi Energia was founded by Estonian energy and nuclear energy professionals to develop deployment of SMRs in Estonia. In July 2019, the company launched a feasibility study on the suitability of SMRs for Estonia's electricity supply and climate goals beyond 2030, following a financing round from investors and shareholders.
In February 2023, the company selected GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300 SMR for potential deployment by the early 2030s. The BWRX-300 design is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of the company's ESBWR boiling water reactor.
Fermi Energia submitted an application to Estonia's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in January this year to begin the state spatial planning process for a 600 MW nuclear power plant. During the initial site pre-selection phase (to be conducted between 2025 and 2027) a comprehensive evaluation of potential locations will be carried out, with a focus on areas near Kunda in Viru-Nigula County and Aa village in Lüganuse County. During the site confirmation phase (2027-2029), detailed site-specific studies will be conducted, with an assessment of technical compatibility and an analysis of location-based parameters. The government announced the start of the spatial planning process and Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment in May.
Fermi Energia expects to submit a construction permit application for the proposed plant in 2029, with construction targeted to begin in 2031. The first of two SMRs is set to be operational by the second half of 2035.
Argentina and Brazil progressing their multipurpose reactors
Argentina aims to become self-sufficient and an exporter of radioisotopes when the RA-10 multipurpose reactor is operating, while Brazil says construction of its similar facility is due to start in the first half of 2026.
(Image: CNEA)
The new president of Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), Martin Porro, and Secretary of Nuclear Affairs Federico Ramos Napoli, set out progress while hosting a tour for Argentina's ambassador to the USA - and tech business entrepreneur - Alec Oxenford.
The RA-10 multipurpose reactor is a 30 MWt open pool type reactor. The aim is for its commissioning to begin during 2026, with full operation in 2027.
Engineer Pablo Cantero, area manager of the RA-10 project, said: "Currently, 580 people are working on the project. This year's achievements include the installation of the water supply plant, the completion of the general assembly and the control room, and the start of pre-operational testing."
CNEA says the reactor is "designed to guarantee the national self-sufficiency of radioisotopes for medical diagnoses and treatments, such as molybdenum-99, iridium-192, and lutetium-177, which are also in high demand internationally. Argentina will become one of the leading exporters of these radioisotopes".
As well as producing radioisotopes for export it also aims to develop new radioisotope production and produce high quality doped silicon for high power electronics applications. It will also be able to test nuclear fuel and have facilities to be able to test materials such as radiation damage in nuclear power plants' reactor pressure vessels.
The RA-10 project was approved by the government and officially started by CNEA in June 2010. Argentina's Nuclear Regulatory Authority granted a construction licence for RA-10 in November 2014. The civil works for the reactor began in 2016. Nuclear technology firm Invap is involved in the design and construction of the reactor facility and related installations, playing the role of main contractor.
The assembly of the RA-10 pool - which will house the core of the reactor - was completed in August 2018. The RA-10 will replace the RA-3 reactor on the same site, a 10 MWt pool-type reactor which began operations in 1967. The RA-10 will also have associated facilities such as the Argentine Neutron Beam Laboratory and the Laboratory for the Study of Irradiated Materials.
Progress in Brazil
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Brazil, the aim is for construction of the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB) to begin in the first half of 2026, according to the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN).
How the RMB centre might look, with the reactor building (8) and Neutron Beam Laboratory (9) (Image: CNEN)
The President of CNEN, Francisco Rondinelli, has been in Argentina holding meetings with Invap "focusing on establishing the basic terms of the engineering contract that will enable the new construction phase of the project".
The RMB is similar to Argentina's RA-10 multipurpose reactor. It has been in development since 2008. Invap signed an agreement in 2013 to build the two research reactors - one in each country - with the reference design to be the Open Pool Australian Light-water (Opal) research reactor that Invap supplied to the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation. At the time it was estimated that between them, the two new reactors would provide capacity to supply 40% of the world's isotope demand.
The Brazilian multipurpose reactor is to be part of a two-million-square-metre site which, it is proposed, will also host laboratories for researching nuclear fusion, particle accelerators and radiopharmaceutical development and production. Infrastructure work on the site began in February and the total project cost has been estimated at USD500 million, with a target completion date of 2030.
Ethiopia and Russia hold talks over potential nuclear power project
Negotiations have taken place in Moscow over advancing proposals for a gigawatt-scale nuclear power plant in Ethiopia.
(Image: Ethiopian Foreign Ministry)
According to Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, "the parties discussed a comprehensive range of issues related to the construction of a large-scale nuclear power plant in Ethiopia featuring Russian design”. And the two sides “reaffirmed their commitment to advancing joint work on the project".
Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two sides signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement "as part of the implementation of a prior agreement between the two countries aimed at advancing the development and construction of Ethiopia’s first nuclear power plant, a milestone project in the country’s development efforts" and added that a roadmap of next steps was also being presented.
Earlier this month the Ethiopian Nuclear Power Programme was officially launched in Addis Ababa, and the newly created Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission began work.
At that event, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, it was explained that the nuclear power programme was being "driven by rapidly growing electricity demand, the need for reliable baseload energy, and Ethiopia’s long-term industrial ambitions" as well as the role "nuclear power will play in ensuring energy security, supporting urbanisation, and powering emerging sectors such as data centres and advanced manufacturing".
Sandokan Debebe, Chief Commissioner of the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission, said at the same event that Ethiopia’s nuclear vision extended beyond electricity generation "to include the peaceful application of nuclear science in healthcare, agriculture, industry, and research, delivering tangible socio-economic benefits". He also stressed that the country was aligning its national framework with International Atomic Energy Agency standards and "adhering strictly to all relevant international treaties and obligations, reaffirming the country’s commitment to a safe, secure, and lawful nuclear programme in support of a modern and industrialised nation".
Russia and Ethiopia signed a roadmap for bilateral cooperation in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes in 2023. According to Rosatom at that time: "The roadmap defines specific steps that the parties will take in 2023-2025 to explore the possibilities of building a nuclear power plant of large or small capacity, as well as a Nuclear Science and Technology Centre in Ethiopia. The parties plan to work together to develop Ethiopia's national nuclear infrastructure, organise technical tours and seminars, and meetings of specialised working groups."
In September this year Rosatom and the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation signed an action plan for developing a nuclear power plant project in Ethiopia. It created a working group to prepare a roadmap for a feasibility study and intergovernmental agreement.
Following this week's negotiations the Ethiopian delegation toured the Kalinin nuclear power plant.
New York energy plan recognises role of nuclear
New York's updated State Energy Plan recognises that a variety of energy sources - including advanced nuclear - will be needed to help the US state meet its overall energy needs over the next 15 years.
The State Energy Planning Board meeting to approve the energy plan (Image: NYSERDA)
The State Energy Plan - approved by the State Energy Planning Board on 16 December - provides broad policy direction that guides energy-related decision making within New York State. The plan includes an outlook up to 2040 with recommendations for meeting future energy demands that prioritise an energy system that is affordable, reliable, and clean while supporting economic development, equity, and a healthy environment.
The process to update the State Energy Plan was announced in August 2024. The State Energy Planning Board, comprised of the heads of ten state agencies and authorities, appointees from the Governor, Senate, and Assembly, and the president of the New York Independent System Operator, commenced its work to assess and compile data to inform the Draft State Energy Plan, which was released in July 2025 for public review and comment. The release of the 2025 Plan follows a robust public comment period which included ten public hearings, seven in-person and three virtual, and written comment.
"Nuclear power plants have provided reliable and zero-emission electricity in New York for decades," the plan says. "Nuclear energy is entering a new phase of technological advancement and deployment opportunities - with performance characteristics that align with the scale of emerging energy needs. The State's current nuclear facilities are supported, in part, by the Zero Emission Credit (ZEC) programme. Nuclear energy is expected to continue to play an important role in providing clean firm generation."
The plan recommends the State evaluate the extension of the ZEC programme prior to any federal relicensing application deadlines to ensure the continued operation of the existing nuclear fleet to help meet State climate goals as well as maintain fuel diversity and fuel security. Any extension, it says, should be done with ratepayer protection in mind, in addition to the reliability needs of the grid. Through its Master Plan for Responsible Advanced Nuclear Development, the State should also continue to examine key considerations for advanced nuclear for long-term planning.
In January, State Governor Kathy Hochul outlined plans to develop a Master Plan for Responsible Advanced Nuclear Development in New York as part of a USD1 billion proposal to achieve a more sustainable - and affordable - future for the state. The development of the master plan is being led by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) working with the Department of Public Service. Under the plan, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) is to begin evaluation of technologies, business models, and locations for the first new nuclear power plant immediately, and will secure the key partnerships needed for the project. This will include site and technology feasibility assessments as well as consideration of financing options. Candidate locations will be assessed for suitability based on public safety, strength of community support, compatibility with existing infrastructure, as well as skilled labour and land availability.
"The State's zero emissions by 2040 target is urgent, especially when viewed relative to the long development timelines of nuclear projects," the State Energy Plan says. "Early development efforts are therefore important. The State is already undertaking examples of such early deployment action through NYPA's role to develop 1 GW of advanced nuclear power generation as per Governor Hochul's direction in June 2025 and NYSERDA's support for an early site permitting funding application by Constellation. Early development efforts should be undertaken in coordination with the Master Plan process and reflect collaboration with other states to ensure that any deployment commitments leverage the insights and benefits from those initiatives."
NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris, chair of the State Energy Planning Board, said: "The State Energy Plan is the product of a pragmatic and objective process that comes at a critical yet challenging time for energy planning in New York as we continue to build out renewable resources while factoring in new energy demands and confronting federal headwinds. I commend my fellow Board members and state agency staff for their dedication to developing this Plan, which identifies specific actions to advance over the next several years while maintaining resource diversity – which is key to continued energy reliability and affordability for all New Yorkers."
Four nuclear reactors - all operated by Constellation Energy - currently provide some 21.4% of all New York's electricity, and 41.6% of its carbon-free electricity, according to information from the Nuclear Energy Institute. The state has already supported the continued operation of those facilities - two units at Nine Mile Point and the single-unit Ginna and Fitzpatrick plants - by explicitly recognising the zero-carbon contribution of the plants in its 2016 Clean Energy Standard as critical in enabling it to meet its climate change targets.
EDF estimates EPR2 programme cost at EUR72.8 billion
France's EDF has said its preliminary cost estimate for the project to build six EPR2 reactors at Penly, Gravelines and Bugey totals EUR72.8 billion (USD85.3 billion).
The Penly site, set to host two EPR2s (Image: EDF)
The figure was presented to its board of directors on Thursday. The board approved a EUR2.7 billion budget allocation to the programme for 2026, the company said.
The cost estimate is to be audited in the first three months of 2026 by France's Interministerial Delegation for New Nuclear Technology, which reports to the French president.
France submitted its proposed state aid measures for approval to the European Commission in November - they comprise a subsidised loan to finance at least half of the construction costs; a 40-year Contract for Difference; and risk sharing between the state and EDF.
A Contract for Difference is essentially where there is a future fixed price guaranteed for electricity generated, with the government either paying the difference between the market price and the agreed sale price, or receiving payment if the market price is higher.
The aim is to be able to take a Final Investment Decision by the end of 2026.
Bernard Fontana, Chairman and CEO of the EDF Group, said: "The establishment of the preliminary cost estimate for the EPR2 programme reflects the commitment of EDF teams, its subsidiaries, and all of our industrial partners to controlling deadlines and costs."
EDF said that "the completion of the EPR2 programme will contribute to France's energy and industrial sovereignty, as well as its energy transition, for decades to come".
In February 2022 President Emmanuel Macron announced that the time was right for a nuclear renaissance in France, saying the operation of all existing reactors should be extended without compromising safety, and unveiling the proposed programme for six new EPR2 reactors, with an option for a further eight EPR2 reactors to follow. The first three pairs of EPR2 reactors are proposed to be built, in order, at the Penly, Gravelines and Bugey nuclear power plant sites. Construction was expected to start in 2027 with commissioning in 2035, but that target date for commissioning the first reactor at Penly is now 2038, with subsequent units following at intervals of up to 18 months.
The cost was originally estimated at EUR51.7 billion (USD56.4 billion), but this was revised to EUR67.4 billion in 2023. The new estimate is at 2020 values.
The EPR2 reactor is a pressurised water reactor project developed by EDF and Framatome. It meets the general safety objectives of the third generation of reactors. Its aim is to incorporate design, construction and commissioning experience feedback from the EPR reactor, as well as operating experience from the nuclear reactors currently in service.
Urenco USA produces first LEU+ fuel
Urenco USA has produced its first uranium enriched to 8.5% U-235, in what it describes as a first for a commercial uranium facility in the USA.
(Image: Urenco USA)
It completed the initial production run of the low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+) on 11 December. LEU+ is uranium enriched to between 5% and 10% U-235.
The company was given US Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorisation to enrich uranium up to 10% U-235 in September. Urenco USA aims to produce commercial quantities for customers from "mid-2026".
John Kirkpatrick, managing director of Urenco USA, said: "In 2025, we have delivered on our plans to launch a new advanced fuels capability and to install new production capacity, demonstrating Urenco USA's commitment to supporting the future needs of our customers and the US nuclear industry as the country increasingly relies on nuclear energy.
"Our employees' efforts this year will ensure that the United States continues to have a reliable domestic supplier of enriched uranium for our current reactor fleet and for the advanced reactors preparing for deployment in the coming years."
The nuclear fuel cycle
Unenriched, or natural, uranium contains about 0.7% of the fissile uranium-235 (U-235) isotope. ("Fissile" means it's capable of undergoing the fission process by which energy is produced in a nuclear reactor). The rest is the non-fissile uranium-238 isotope. Most nuclear reactors need fuel containing between 3.5% and 5% U-235. This is also known as low-enriched uranium, or LEU. Advanced reactor designs that are now being developed - and many small modular reactors - will require higher enrichments still. This material, containing between 5% and 10% U-235 - is known as LEU+, with that from 10% to 20% U-235 known as high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU.
Enrichment increases the concentration of the fissile isotope by passing the gaseous UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) through gas centrifuges, in which a fast-spinning rotor inside a vacuum casing makes use of the very slight difference in mass between the fissile and non-fissile isotopes to separate them. As the rotor spins, the concentration of molecules containing heavier, non-fissile, isotopes near the outer wall of the cylinder increases, with a corresponding increase in the concentration of molecules containing the lighter U-235 isotope towards the centre.
Enriched uranium is then reconverted from the fluoride to the oxide - a powder - for fabrication into nuclear fuel assemblies.
Urenco USA’s new capacity
In another "December milestone", the company announced that this year’s third new cascade of centrifuges began production of LEU on 16 December.
The new centrifuge cascades are part of a programme to install 700,000 separative work units (SWU) of capacity by 2027 at Urenco USA’s New Mexico uranium enrichment plant.
Urenco USA says it "is the only company to have licensed, built, operated, and expanded a commercial uranium enrichment plant in the United States" and says the new capacity is required to meet the growing demand in the country and end reliance on Russian imports.
Korean floating SMR design certified
South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries has received Approval in Principle from the American Bureau of Shipping for a floating marine nuclear power platform featuring two SMART100 small modular reactors developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.
(Image: Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
As part of the Novel Concept Class Approval process, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) grants an Approval in Principle (AIP) at an early conceptual design phase to assist the client in demonstrating project feasibility to its project partners and regulatory bodies. Approval in Principle confirms that the proposed novel concept which includes the new technology complies with the intent of the most applicable ABS Rules and Guides as well as required appropriate industry codes and standards, subject to a list of conditions.
Under the certification process, Samsung Heavy Industries was responsible for the integration of the small modular reactors (SMRs) with the floating structure, the overall design of the nuclear power generation facilities, and the development of a multi-barrier reactor containment system. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), meanwhile, adapted the land-based SMART100 SMR for offshore applications.
Although the Approval in Principle granted by the ABS is for a floating platform incorporating two SMART100 reactors, Samsung Heavy Industries said the concept can be adapted so that different SMR designs can be used.
"The FSMR (Floating SMR) is expected to be advantageous for commercialisation as it is a universal floating nuclear power facility model that can be equipped with various types of SMR," the company said. "FSMR is characterised by the application of the so-called 'compartment design', which groups and places the reactor and power generation facilities by function, and by changing the design of only the compartment where the SMR is placed makes it possible to develop FSMR with various types of SMRs applied."
In addition, the reactor and safety system - the core components of the floating nuclear power plant - have been modularised within a single containment vessel to enhance safety, and the SMR can be placed within the containment vessel to allow testing on land before being installed on board, thereby shortening the construction period, Samsung Heavy Industries added.
Floating SMR equipped with SMART100 (Image: KAERI)
"This AIP is an important milestone for pioneering the offshore nuclear power generation market,” said Ahn Young-kyu, vice president and head of technology development at Samsung Heavy Industries. "Going forward, Samsung Heavy Industries will continue to develop safe and economical offshore nuclear power plants based on its offshore plant technology."
Cho Jin-young, head of KAERI's Advanced Nuclear Reactor Research Institute, said: "This acquisition of AIP using SMART100 proves the innovativeness of our nuclear power technology," and added, "We will accelerate technology development so that our country can establish itself as a leading country in the marine nuclear power industry."
(Image: Samsung Heavy Industries)
The SMART100 (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor 100) is an advanced version of the original SMART design, which became the world's first SMR to receive standard design approval in mid-2012. SMART is a 330 MWt pressurised water reactor with integral steam generators and advanced safety features. The unit is designed for electricity generation (up to 100 MWe) as well as thermal applications, such as seawater desalination, with a 60-year design life and three-year refuelling cycle.
The SMART100 builds upon the safety, economic, and operational benefits of the SMART, offering enhanced power output and safety features. SMART100's development prioritised safety improvements, including the integration of a fully passive safety system. This system is capable of maintaining reactor cooling without the need for external power, using natural forces like gravity and fluid density differences to ensure the safe shutdown and cooling of the reactor during emergencies.
Along with these safety enhancements, SMART100 also offers increased thermal output, rising from 330 MW to 365 MW, while its electrical output has been boosted from 100 MW to 110 MW, significantly improving efficiency while maintaining a compact design. SMART100 received standard design approval in 2024.
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