New Delhi, March 20: Admiral D. K. Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM (Retd.), Hon’ble Lt. Governor, A&N Islands and Vice-Chairman, Islands Development Agency, attended the Power Minister’s Roundtable chaired by Hon’ble Minister of Power, Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Manohar Lal Khattar, at the Bharat Electricity Summit 2026 today.
In his intervention, the Hon’ble Lt. Governor, A&N Islands strongly recommended the consideration of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for selected island locations in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. He noted that with mega infrastructure projects such as the International Container Transshipment Terminal and new greenfield airports soon to be commissioned, peak power demand is expected to increase several times compared to current requirements.
Highlighting that many countries located in Seismic Zone-V are successfully operating similar power plants, including offshore barge-mounted floating nuclear plants, the Hon’ble Lt. Governor underscored the advantages of rapid scalability, along with the additional benefit of freshwater generation from cooling plants. He also emphasised the need for early resolution of power privatization issues, which will be a primary consideration for unfolding power matrix roadmap of A&N Islands.