To meet increasing energy requirements, policy decisions to speedily develop and utilize all types of energy resources at our command need to be taken and implemented. Full potential of the hydro and non-conventional renewable resources should be exploited at the earliest. In the coming five decades, though coal based thermal power plants will continue to be the mainstay of electricity generation, share of nuclear power has to be significantly expanded. For the nuclear power to play this role, the ongoing PHWR, LWR and FBR programmes should be completed. The development of U-Pu metal based FBRs of requisite breeding characteristics and associated fuel reprocessing technologies should be completed in the next 15-20 years. Fast breeder reactors have the potential to ensure that generation by nuclear power by the middle of the present century is about a quarter of the total electricity generation and this would enable to limit the primary energy import to about 30%.

Thorium based thermal and/or fast breeder technology as well as ADS, should be developed so as to provide required fissile material beyond the year 2052. All efforts should be made to develop and deploy advanced technologies in a shorter time frame so as to ensure still higher contribution by nuclear energy thereby reducing the energy import.
Intensive R&D efforts need to be mobilized towards exploration of hydrocarbons and coal and better utilization of existing resource base, development of efficient fuel cycle technologies for nuclear power and for exploitation of new fuel resources such as gas hydrates.

Acknowledgement
Authors would like to thank Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, AEC for fruitful discussions throughout the course of the study. Authors also thankfully acknowledge the comments received from BARC, IGCAR and NPCIL.