Govt passes atomic energy bill in Lok Sabha; Congress questions 'end of supplier liability'

The Atomic Energy Bill 2025 called ‘The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025’ was passed in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Earlier, while introducing the Bill, Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh said, “We have set ourselves the target to produce 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047. Today, this is just 8.8 GW. The goal is to have nuclear energy make up 10% of India’s energy needs by 2047, as against 2% today."

The Bill seeks to amend the 1962 Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, to encourage private sector participation and make way for enhanced foreign direct investment in the sector.

Opposing the Bill, Congress MP from Chandigarh Manish Tewari, the lead speaker from the opposition, questioned the absence of a clause on supplier liability.

He said the existing framework provides for supplier liability under Section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage law.

“This bill completely scraps supplier liability. God forbid if there is an accident tomorrow, the supplier will not be liable and the domestic industry will bear the brunt,” Tewari said.

He also questioned whether it was coincidental that the Adani group in late November announced its intent to enter the nuclear energy sector and the government brought the bill in December. “Is this a coincidence? I am only asking,” he said.

Jitendra Singh responded firmly, dismissing the insinuation as baseless, and noting that the Bill’s framework didn’t seek to favor any private group but was a broad structure to enable enhancement of India’s nuclear energy capacities that will aid its commitment for net zero emissions until 2070.

Tewari also questioned graded liability provisions in the Bill, with the BJP lead speaker Shashank Mani, Deoria MP, arguing that these were in line with global standards.

Another concern Tewari raised was whether the bill undermined India’s third-generation nuclear programme, which is thorium-based, by placing emphasis on uranium-based nuclear reactors.

Earlier in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP KC Venugopal demanded six hours for the debate on the bill and eight on the Viksit Bharat G GRAM Bill (which is also to be passed today). The government said they were willing to sit through the night to pass the bills. Speaker Om Birla too assured the opposition of adequate time for discussions. The two bills are to be cleared today itself, though the opposition had demanded their reference to a parliamentary committee for wider discussions. Inset Why the Atomic energy bill

WHY THE BILL

India has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2070

The power sector contributes over 40% of global energy-related emissions

Nuclear energy, being a non-fossil and stable power source, will play a major role in India’s net zero emission goal.

India currently operates 25 nuclear reactors at 7 locations, with an installed capacity of 8,880 MW, contributing 3% of the national power generation.

Eight reactors with a 6,600 MW capacity are under construction, and another 10 reactors with a 7,000 MW capacity are in pre-project stages.

The government has set a target of achieving 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047.