India's Nuclear Weapons Stockpile is 75-125 Compared To Pakistan's 110-130: US Think Tanks

India had enough weapon-grade plutonium to possess an estimated stock of atomic weapons in the range of 75-125 in 2014 compared to Pakistan’s 110-130 nuclear warheads during the same period.

In a report published Monday by US based Institute for Science and International Security, India has one of the largest nuclear power programs among the developing nations.

"An estimate of India's nuclear arsenal can be derived by considering its weapon-grade plutonium stock. The resulting estimate has a median of 138 nuclear weapons equivalent with a range of 110 to 175 weapons equivalent," the report said.

"However, the actual number of nuclear weapons India built from its stocks of weapon-grade plutonium must be less. When accounting for the amount of plutonium in the weapons production pipelines and in reserves, it is reasonable to assume that only about 70 per cent of the estimated stock of weapon-grade uranium is in nuclear weapons," the report said.

"Thus the predicted number of weapons made from its weapon-grade plutonium at the end of 2014 is about 97 with a range of 77-123. These values are rounded to 100 nuclear weapons with a range of 75-125 nuclear weapons," the report co-authored by David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini said.

The report estimated that India has made 100-200 kilogrammes of weapon-grade uranium for nuclear weapons.

"Faced with a lack of information but evidence that India has produced HEU (highly enriched uranium) for nuclear weapons, it is assumed that India has made 100-200 kilogrammes of weapon-grade uranium for nuclear weapons. Of course, this estimate is highly uncertain," the Institute for Science and International Security report said.

"It (India) has a substantial stock of nuclear weapons made from weapon-grade plutonium, and perhaps some thermonuclear weapons that rely on both weapon-grade plutonium and weapon-grade uranium," the report said.

India's stockpiles of nuclear weapons are much less than that of neighbouring Pakistan, according to a recent report.

In a recent report, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, another US think-tank estimated that Pakistan had a nuclear weapons stockpile of 110 to 130 warheads, an increase from an estimated 90 to 110 warheads in 2011.

“With several delivery systems in development, four operating plutonium production reactors, and uranium facilities, Pakistan’s stockpiles will likely increase over the next 10 years, but by how much will depend on many things,” the report stated.

Based on Pakistan’s performance over the past 20 years and its current and anticipated weapons deployment, the authors estimate that its stockpile could realistically grow to 220 to 250 warheads by 2025, making it the world’s fifth largest nuclear weapon state, the report said.

A Stockhold International Peace Research Institute report puts the figure at 90-110 for India and 100-120 for Pakistan.