NEW DELHI, 04 December 2021, (TON): The government informed the Rajya Sabha “the nation will have nine nuclear reactors by 2024 and a new nuclear project, the first in northern India, will come up 150 kms away from Delhi in Gorakhpur of Haryana.”

Minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions Jitendra Singh said "by 2024 you will have nine nuclear reactors plus 12 new additional ones which were approved with a capacity of 9000 MW. Five new sites are also being identified in different parts of the country."

Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, he said “what is remarkable is that unlike in the past when nuclear plants were limited to a few states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the department has now moved northwards.”

Singh said "we are going to have a nuclear project, the first of its kind, in North India just about 150 kms from here in a small township called Gorakhpur in Haryana.”

The minister said "we have not only increased the number but are also trying to make a pan-India generation project."

The minister said that nuclear energy will soon emerge as one of the most important sources of alternative or clean energy for the increasing power demand of the country.