Science and Technology News

New Tokamaks in India

September 16 , 2026 15 hrs 0 min 33 0

India added two small-scale spherical tokamaks to its fusion research base in 2026.
Pragya, developed by Bengaluru-based Pranos Fusion, was completed on 21 August 2026 and launched on 3 September 2026.
The Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, achieved the first plasma in its compact spherical tokamak and conducted 114 plasma discharges.
A spherical tokamak is a compact magnetic-confinement device used to study plasma behaviour for nuclear fusion research.
India’s fusion facilities include ADITYA-U and SST-1 at IPR, while India holds a 9% stake in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France.
Pragya is an experimental testbed for plasma control and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, not a commercial electricity-generation machine.