Indian Infrastructures and Capabilities
Signed on 27 August 2026, the DoT-funded initiative is designed to bridge the gap between laboratory-stage innovation and commercial deployment. Indian startups, telecom companies, researchers and technology developers will be able to test optical networking solutions in a realistic network environment before taking them to market.
Both RAPS-4 at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan and MAPS-2 at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu are 220 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) operated by NPCIL. RAPS-4 entered commercial operation in December 2000, while MAPS-2 has been operating since March 1986. NPCIL’s current operating data confirms that both units remained operational during the April–July period of FY2026-27.
India joined the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea, or ATLAS, initiative on August 26, 2026, placing the country inside a global effort to establish the technical, safety and regulatory foundations required for peaceful nuclear power at sea. The initiative comes at the same time that India is investing heavily in its own indigenous Small Modular Reactor programme, creating an intriguing long-term convergence between nuclear engineering and the country’s rapidly expanding maritime economy.
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav performed the Bhoomi Pujan for the project on 27 August 2026 at Vehicle Factory Jabalpur, a unit of the Mini Ratna Defence Public Sector Undertaking Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL).
The greenfield facility has an initial production capacity of 30,000 tonnes a year and has been designed for phased expansion to 60,000 tonnes annually as the domestic market develops. Hindalco says the first-phase capacity is sufficient to address almost the entire current domestic requirement from India’s wire and cable industry, potentially replacing a substantial portion of material that previously had to be imported.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw outlined the programme on August 26, highlighting the extraordinary concentration of traffic on these corridors. Although the seven high-density routes constitute only about 16% of the Indian Railways network, they carry approximately 41% of the country’s total rail traffic.
DRDO has initiated procurement of consultancy services covering detailed engineering, design drawings and soil investigation for the proposed facility. The current tender was published on August 6, 2026, marking an important preparatory step towards establishing the specialised wind-tunnel infrastructure at RCI.
India is steadily transforming the strategically critical Siliguri Corridor through a combination of railway redundancy,
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari carried out the Bhumi Pujan for the projects virtually from GRSE Bhavan in Kolkata on August 23. Three of the projects are being undertaken by GRSE at Raichak, Shalimar and Kidderpore, while YIL is establishing two major forging facilities at its Metal and Steel Factory at Ishapore. Together, the investments represent one of the more significant recent capacity additions to India’s state-owned defence manufacturing ecosystem.
The proposed programme could provide around $1.2 billion in incentives over seven years and attract approximately $1.8 billion in new investment, according to Reuters, which cited two government sources. A final decision is expected soon, but the scheme has not yet received final approval or been formally notified.
