India's Nuclear Warheads Reach 190, Says Report

Key facts

• India is estimated to have assembled around 190 nuclear warheads, with more than 160 associated with operational delivery systems, according to a Federation of American Scientists (FAS) assessment titled 'India's Nuclear Weapons - 2026' by Hans Kristensen, director of the FAS Nuclear Information Project.
• FAS estimates India may have produced enough military plutonium for 140 to 225 nuclear warheads, based on International Panel on Fissile Materials estimates of approximately 730 kg, plus or minus about 170 kg, of weapon-grade plutonium produced by the beginning of 2026 and an assumption of about four kilogrammes of plutonium per warhead.
• The 100-megawatt Dhruva reactor at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre complex near Mumbai is India's main source of weapons-grade plutonium, while the CIRUS reactor at the same site served that purpose until 2010.
• India's 500-MWt Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam achieved first criticality on April 6, 2026, and if operated at 80% efficiency could hypothetically produce an estimated 140 kg of Plutonium-239 annually, sufficient for up to 35 nuclear warheads.
• India's 1998 Pokhran-II tests reliably validated a fission design, while progress in boosted-fission and thermonuclear weapon designs remains uncertain.
• India maintains a no-first-use policy adopted after the 1998 nuclear tests and a posture of credible minimum deterrence.