India is expected to produce 35,000 MW nuclear power by 2020, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Dr Srikumar Banerjee said in Mumbai on Sunday.

Dr Banerjee said that the total nuclear power generation was expected to reach 35,000 MW by 2020, while speaking on the sidelines of a function on nuclear power, hosted by the Mumbai Branch of  the Jadavpur University Alumni Association.

He, howevwer, said that  nuclear power would account for less than 10 per cent of the total demand in 2020, as by that time, demand for power would have reached 350,000-400,000 MW.

Dr Banerjee, who is also a director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), said that India's nuclear power generation programme needs support from the private sector as well.

He said that it was a wrong notion that only government was involved in nuclear power programme-related activities. We need the industry support also.

Dr Banerjee disclsed that Asia's leading IT firm TCS,  a Tata Group company had been "our partner for decades.'' He, however, said that the private players can play only a minor role in power generation.

''The present Atomic Energy Act allows private parties to be only the minor stakeholders in generation of power. No private company can jump into the production, which does not have the expertise. A lot of safety and security concerns are there,'' he said.

He said now there are many joint ventures in the pipeline, including that of private-public partnership model, for nuclear power.

''NTPC has already signed an agreement with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for nuclear power generation. There are a lot of activities going on and companies like Nalco have also come forward for production of nuclear power,'' he pointed out.

Recently, L&T and NPCIL together announced a joint venture for equipment manufacturing, where L&T owns the controlling stake, he added.