Centre tables SHANTI Bill to overhaul nuclear sector

The government on Monday introduced the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, proposing a comprehensive new legal framework for the country’s nuclear energy sector and seeking to repeal two key existing laws.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh tabled the Bill, which aims to replace the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, with a single legislation aligned with India’s present and future energy needs.

The Bill is linked to India’s long-term energy and climate commitments, including the target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and building 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047. To meet these goals, it seeks to more fully harness indigenous nuclear resources and enable participation from both the public and private sectors, while positioning India as a contributor to the global nuclear energy ecosystem.

Opposition members, however, strongly objected to the introduction of the Bill. Congress MP Manish Tewari said the proposed legislation conferred sweeping powers on the Centre across licensing, regulation, land acquisition, tariff fixation, exemptions and emergency provisions, including the novation of private contracts.

He argued that permitting profit-driven private participation in what he described as “ultra-hazardous” nuclear activities, while limiting liability and judicial remedies, undermined the state’s non-delegable public trust obligations relating to life, health and the environment.

Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy also opposed the Bill, alleging that it was intended to facilitate the entry of large private players into the nuclear energy sector.

Referring to debates during the UPA regime on nuclear liability, Roy said the present legislation marked a gradual opening up of the sector to private corporates, naming major power sector companies in this context.

At the operational level, the Bill lays down provisions for licensing and safety authorisation of specified persons engaged in the production or use of nuclear energy, along with grounds for suspension or cancellation of such licences. It also seeks to regulate the use of nuclear and radiation technologies in sectors such as healthcare, food and agriculture, industry and research, while exempting research, development and innovation activities from licensing requirements.