NPCIL, IIT Bombay partner on soil improvement technique for GHAVP 3 & 4

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to undertake technical development and trials of the Deep Soil Mixing (DSM) technique for the upcoming Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (GHAVP) Units 3 & 4 in Haryana.

The two units are planned as twin 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). The MoU was signed on July 8, 2026, at the IIT Bombay campus in Powai, Mumbai.

DSM trials

The collaboration will focus on establishing the feasibility and efficacy of DSM for ground improvement at the GHAVP site. Its application at GHAVP would be the first use of the technique for a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in India.

DSM involves improving the characteristics of soil at a project site and is being evaluated as a candidate ground improvement method for nuclear projects where soil forms the founding strata. According to NPCIL, development of the technique could enable faster and safe construction of NPPs at such sites.

Establishing DSM as a viable ground improvement method could also widen the range of sites with soil as founding strata that can accommodate nuclear power projects.

NPCIL has linked the development of the technique with India’s target of reaching 100 GWe of nuclear power capacity by 2047 and its Net-Zero goal for 2070.

Collaboration

The MoU was signed by Mr. Sulok Kumar Saxena, Executive Director (Engineering), NPCIL, and Prof. Shrikrishna V. Kulkarni, Dean (Research and Development), IIT Bombay.

The signing took place in the presence of Project Investigator Prof. Deepankar Choudhury of IIT Bombay and other senior officials from both organisations.

Photo credit: IIT Bombay