Lok Sabha passes Bill to allow private players in nuclear sector

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025, which seeks to open the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation, by voice vote amid a walkout by the Congress-led Opposition. The Opposition had demanded the legislation be referred to a joint parliamentary panel.

Minister of State for Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh termed the Bill as a "milestone legislation", while the Opposition objected to its intent. Tearing into the draft law, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the ruling BJP was undermining India’s energy independence and clean energy goals by breaking a 2010 consensus on nuclear liability regime. He said the Bill also did not provide clarity on the role of the atomic energy regulator.

The minister while replying to the six-hour discussion on the legislation, addressed the Opposition's concerns over the liability clause, saying that the Bill did not dilute compensation to victims.

He said the operators' liability had been rationalised through graded caps linked to the reactor size. "This will encourage newer technologies such as small modular reactors while ensuring that full compensation is available to affected persons through a multi-layered mechanism," he said. He said this included operator liability, a proposed Nuclear Liability Fund backed by the government and additional international compensation through India’s participation in the Convention on Supplementary Compensation.

The minister said the supplier liability was removed after detailed consideration of global practices and advances in reactor safety, while negligence and penal provisions remained enforceable under the law.

Introducing the Bill earlier, Singh said the Bill would help India achieve its target of 100 GW atomic energy generation by 2047.

Opening the debate for the Opposition, Chandigarh MP Tewari accused the government of diluting nuclear liability norms, undermining regulatory independence and opening the sector to private and corporate interests without adequate safeguards.

He demanded that the Bill be sent to a joint parliamentary committee, as in its present form it undermined “India’s energy independence and clean energy goals”.

Referring to the provision for private participation, Tewari said it was striking that the Bill comes a month after a private conglomerate announced its plan to enter the sector. “Is it a coincidence?” Tewari sought to know, to which Singh intervened to deny the “unfounded and politically motivated” claim.

The Congress MP said there was a consensus in 2010 to make the supplier liable for nuclear accidents by making provisions for the "operator’s right to recourse". It was felt that with foreign suppliers coming into the sector, this provision was important and it was supported by the BJP, he said, adding that this part was missing in the new Bill.

Tewari said there were a lot of concerns about the autonomy of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and its independence was paramount in the event of foreign players entering the country’s nuclear sector.

Critical of the caps on liability fixed in the Bill, which has put it at $410 million, he said the compensation for the Bhopal gas tragedy was $470 million 15 years ago. He demanded that the liability cap be fixed at Rs 10,000 crore.

Congress’ Shashi Tharoor said it was “not nuclear Bill but unclear Bill” and this “dangerous” legislation should go to a standing committee or a JPC.

Stressing that the liability cap was very “miniscule”, DMK’s Arun Nehru said the name of the Bill — SHANTI — was "oxymoron" as the nuclear energy had nothing to do with 'shanti' (peace).

Urging the government to send the Bill to a select committee, TMC member Saugata Roy said nuclear energy was a "risky proposition".

Seeking examination of the Bill by a JPC, NCP member Supriya Sule said no supplier should have immunity and asked how the government could put a cap on liability.

Singh while responding to the discussion, rejected the view that the Bill signalled a retreat from public sector capability, pointing to a nearly 170 per cent increase in the Department of Atomic Energy’s budget over the past decade and a doubling of installed nuclear capacity since 2014.