New Delhi: Thorium has long been projected as India’s energy future, due to its abundance, cleaner nature than uranium, and proximity to the country’s geological reality. For decades, it has been seen as a fuel alternative capable of reducing India’s dependence on imported energy.
As Dr. Srijan Pal Singh, author and advisor to former President APJ Abdul Kalam, says, “The total energy in all the uranium, petroleum and coal of the world combined is equal to the energy contained in India’s thorium alone.”
That is why Dr. Kalam talked about exploitation of thorium. Even before him, Homi Bhabha had shown keen interest in it. The reason was that India is the most thorium rich country in the world.
This belief guided India’s nuclear strategy. Bhabha’s three-phase program initially focused on the use of limited uranium and eventually India’s large thorium reserves for commercial power.
But in 2025, despite decades of planning, research and experiments, India still does not have commercially deployed thorium-based nuclear fuel. According to Business World, that milestone has been passed by a young US-based private company, Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE).
Its product, called Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life (ANEEL), is designed to be used in pressurized heavy water reactors, the same type of reactors India has built and operated for decades.
India has built and operated pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) for decades. ANEEL is specifically designed for use in PHWRs, including Indian PHWR designs.
The difference is obvious.
India laid the scientific foundation, designed the reactors and validated the closed fuel cycle. But when it came time to translate the knowledge into market-ready solutions, success lay elsewhere.
Dr. Singh said, “India’s thorium is the biggest treasure hidden beneath our feet. We should have used it.”
ready but not used
India’s thorium journey has not been a failure of science. Thorium oxide fuel pins were tested in pressurized heavy water reactors. Kalpakkam Mini Reactor (Kamini) operated successfully using uranium-233 derived from thorium. Technically, the route was proven.
But the leap from laboratory success to licensed commercial fuel never came. The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), specifically designed to use thorium, has not yet been built, despite being discussed for more than two decades. The thorium–uranium mixed oxide fuel was shown to be compatible with existing PHWRs with only minor design adjustments. Later radiation tests at the Idaho National Laboratory showed that such a fuel could withstand real-world operating stresses.
Still India hesitated.
Dr Singh suggested, “India needs to pursue thorium on two fronts, one through institutions like BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre), IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and other research bodies and second through the private sector including enterprises and start-ups.”
Overseas has taken the lead
CCTE was founded in 2017 by Indian-origin entrepreneur Mehul Shah, who brought business experience in nuclear fuel design. The company has raised approximately $15.5 million from prominent Indian investors, showing strong support for the commercial future of thorium.
What is even more remarkable is the team of consultants for this foreign company. Dr. Anil Kakodkar, former head of India’s Atomic Energy Commission and a longtime supporter of the country’s thorium plans, serves as an advisor. Even the company’s name, ANEEL, is said to reflect ideological continuity with India’s nuclear terminology.
This is not a criticism of anyone as retired scientists often advise private companies around the world. But when a key figure in India’s thorium program is involved in a breakthrough made outside the country’s main scientific institutions, it naturally raises questions about national priorities and how well the institutions are performing.
However, there is no public evidence that it has a formal relationship with India’s AEC; The relationship is either symbolic or advisory.
“The company in question is itself a start-up. It is a private company, not Harvard or Frankfurt or any government institute. It is a private company which has some very strong advisors. If Mr Anil is associated with it, why should we not bring him into our national effort and utilize India’s thorium reserves? This is a warning to us. We have been silent about our greatest treasure, which is thorium,” said Dr Singh.
Did the policy go astray or lose urgency?
Experts have been vocal about delays in thorium development. He explains that moving thorium from research to commercial use has been slow for several reasons.
Technically, thorium itself is not fissionable and must first be converted into uranium-233, a process that requires advanced reactor and reprocessing technology.
Changes in policy and priority over the years also played a role, as India focused more on expanding uranium-based reactors, especially after the 2008 India-US nuclear deal eased access to international uranium and reduced urgency on the thorium cycle.
On top of this, low funding and institutional inertia meant that thorium research largely remained a long-term scientific goal, leaving projects like the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) stuck in the planning stage.
These factors have slowed full commercial rollout, even though experimental and prototyping work has continued.
Dr Singh believes that the response now must be decisive.
“We should immediately set up a task force, create a venture fund that not only goes to the IITs and BARC, but also supports our private enterprises,” he said.
According to him, ANEEL represents both a warning and proof. He said, “This clearly proves one thing that energy production from thorium is possible. It is not impossible.”
A strategic moment that India cannot miss
ANEEL’s potential benefits are solid. It boasts much higher fuel burn than conventional uranium fuel, significant waste reductions, better safety margins and compatibility with existing Indian reactor designs.
Some see this as a practical acceleration of India’s thorium goals rather than a rejection of them, but it cannot be denied that the first commercially viable thorium fuel comes out of a private foreign enterprise rather than India’s public sector laboratories.
According to Dr. Singh, the use of the firm provides benefits, but he cautions against complacency. He said, “India should not become a market for the ANEEL reactor or the company that manufactures it. We have to immediately create a competitor.”
He argues that India has everything it needs – people, raw materials, expertise and demand. He said, “If Dr. Anil can advise that firm, he can advise India also. He is one of the top scientists of the country. Under his leadership we can start our mission. We have the scientists, resources, raw material, inspiration and market.”
“Since we aim to become a global power and step into the Golden Age This will be the biggest step towards that golden age by 2043. India should immediately earmark Rs 5,000 to 10,000 crore and work on a thorium mission on the same scale that ISRO is working on today,” he advised.
When asked if he had run out of thorium, he was blunt. “Thorium is still beneath our feet.”
But the window is shrinking. “If we remain silent, patents will be filed, IPRs will be locked and other countries will start overtaking us,” he said.
He argued that this is not just a technological moment for India. This is a test of resolve. “So this moment is a golden opportunity and perhaps the last chance to do something truly historic with thorium.”
Science meets strategy
This story is about who reached the milestone first and why. Indian scientists spent 70 years building its foundation and now a professional team abroad has achieved what Indian institutions have never done.
This is not just a technical matter, it is also a strategic one. When a country’s research ends up being intellectually and experimentally based and first conducted by a private company abroad, it raises questions about policy decisions, risk taking and how well it is followed by institutions.
Unless India explains why commercial thorium fuel has not been launched domestically despite all the groundwork, this part of its nuclear story will remain incomplete. This is not a failure of science but a case of unresolved management and missed opportunities.
