India's nuclear arsenal increases by 92 percent since 2000

New Delhi : India is surrounded by two nuclear-armed neighbours, which openly are not too welcoming towards the tricolor nation. To ensure enough nuclear weapons in case of retaliation, if required, India has significantly increased its arsenal in recent decades.

According to a report by US-based think tank Federation of American Scientists (FAS), in 2000, India had around 13 nuclear weapons and now in 2025, it has significantly increased to 180, which is about 92% increase. On average, India is believed to have added around seven nuclear weapons annually during this period.

It must be noted that the report also mentioned that all these nuclear weapons in India are NOT deployed and have been kept in the reserve. The nuclear journey of the nation started way back in 18 May 1974 with its first successful test in Pokhran, Rajasthan, under the codename Smiling Buddha.

It has been underlined that the increase in number of nuclear weapons has been registered due to internal security reasons of the nation.

Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences told the Rajya Sabha that three reactor technologies — 200 MW and 55 MW Pressurised Water Reactors and 5 MW Indian Gas Cooled Reactors — were being developed and the government plans to roll out a fleet of Bharat Small Reactors to meet its green energy target, the report said.

Also, it should be noted that the government said in the Union Budget that India aimed to produce 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047 and half of it would be met by the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).