Chennai: MSMEs have opportunities in the growing nuclear energy sector, but they must overcome challenges of cost, certification, standardisation and support from tier-1 companies, according to industry experts.V P Joy, senior executive vice president at Reliance Industries, said MSMEs have immense, high-volume opportunities in specialized piping, tooling, and modular sub-assemblies, and supporting their expansion will require a targeted national ecosystem focused on training, international licensing, collaborative networks and dedicated financing.“MSMEs face a dual challenge: they must not only manufacture high-quality products correctly, but they must also prove they made them correctly, and material traceability is of prime importance,” he said while speaking at the congress of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) India here on Thursday. He added that massive components such as steam generators remain with major players.Vikram Sehgal of L&T nuclear equipment business group said a lot of MSMEs are supplying to the industry but often view nuclear contracts as a high-cost, high-liability risk, and many lack awareness of the requirements and scale of opportunity.“India has achieved a 100% indigenised ecosystem for pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). Local vendors lack their own nuclear-grade quality systems, but tier-1 suppliers should take them under their own quality management system umbrella to develop their capacity,” he said.With the spike in demand for power, India plans to reach 100 GW nuclear power capacity by 2047. However, experts said it cannot be achieved by large public enterprises alone and requires the participation of MSME players. But entering the nuclear sector is different from supplying conventional industries. Instead of immediately targeting Class 1 safety-critical items, they should adopt a stepwise approach, starting with Class 2 and Class 3 components to slowly build their quality culture. Experts also noted that the cost lies in the certification processes.Cameron Martin, executive, product management & growth at the Westinghouse Electric Company, explained that safety boundaries dictate all manufacturing decisions. Governor of Tamil Nadu Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar participated and delivered an address at the event. The IMECE India 2026 congress is a three-day summit that gathers experts to discuss advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and nuclear energy.
