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The Lok Sabha connected Wednesday (December 17, 2025) passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025 contempt demands by respective Opposition parliamentarians for referring the authorities to a parliamentary panel. The Bill present moves to the Rajya Sabha for treatment pursuing which it tin go law.
Parliament Winter Session: Follow LIVE updates connected December 17, 2025
Congress MP Manish Tewari, who opened discussions connected the Bill pursuing introductory remarks by Science Minister Jitendra Singh, sought to cognize if it was a “coincidence” that a authorities enabling backstage assemblage information successful the atomic assemblage coincided with involvement expressed by the “conglomerate house… Adani” successful November to participate the atomic sector. Mr Singh, amidst uproar successful the House pursuing this, retorted that the Bill had thing to bash with immoderate circumstantial institution and specified an aspersion “brought disrepute to the House.”
Mr. Tewari past burrowed into what is possibly the astir important constituent of the SHANTI Bill: the removal of a clause successful the existing Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 that allows the relation of a atomic powerfulness works to assertion recourse from suppliers if their instrumentality was recovered being liable successful lawsuit of an accident.
In 2008, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had moved a no-confidence question against the Manmohan Singh authorities for, among different things, the lack of specified a clause. Subsequently, this was besides a crushed for the deficiency of overseas information successful India’s atomic assemblage contempt the U.S.-India atomic woody that granted India a waiver from Nuclear Suppliers Group authorisation arsenic it opened overseas companies to perchance unlimited liability.
“I present spot that determination is nary notation to suppliers… deity forbid if determination is an accident… shouldn’t a overseas supplier beryllium liable,” Mr. Tewari questioned.
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Mr. Singh acknowledged that the BJP had voiced absorption successful the past and said that the beingness of the clause “had caused reservations successful collaborators” but the script contiguous was antithetic from 2010. “Times person changed… exertion has changed. We are present into tiny modular reactors which didn’t beryllium arsenic a exertion astatine that time. There volition present beryllium reactors - pursuing the conscionable announced Nuclear Mission - that volition springiness powerfulness successful dense areas. The hazard of catastrophe has present changed. This Bill is coming successful due to the fact that the script has changed,” helium said.
Aditya Yadav of the Samajwadi Party accused the authorities of bringing successful the Bill by “sacrificing the aged laws… that kept nationalist involvement first” due to the fact that the authorities faced with a “dollar that has crossed ₹90” and “unable to pull overseas investment” was “desperately trying to propulsion a reddish carpet to American companies” nether unit from the “prevailing Trump tariffs”.
Supriya Sule, the MP from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) asked however it was imaginable to headdress the liability of works operators astatine ₹3,000 crore. “How tin you enactment a headdress connected that… however person you calculated this magic number,” she asked.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor reiterated this point. “The clean-up costs of the Fukushima catastrophe person already exceeded $182 cardinal dollars. Chernobyl’s (disaster) interaction astatine $700 cardinal dollars... however, the full liability arsenic per this Bill is capped astatine ₹3,000 crore (or astir $400 million). This hasn’t changed successful 15 years, doesn’t relationship for ostentation and the acquisition we person had truthful far,” helium said.
Mr. Singh said that ₹3,000 crore was lone the maximum liability of the works relation and if higher amounts were required it would travel successful from a atomic security excavation arsenic good arsenic additionally, root funds from the recently projected Nuclear Liability Fund (pooled done tariffs).
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“If we transverse those limits past we tin payment from CSC (Convention connected Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage). The crushed for a ‘graded relation liability’ was due to the fact that it was indispensable to promote companies to put successful processing tiny reactors,” helium said. He underlined that respective of the Bill’s provisions had been retained from India’s existing atomic laws and the existent authorities had lone “tightened” provisions and made atomic absorption applicable to existent realities.
Privatising the atomic powerfulness assemblage – that presently makes up 1.5% of India’s installed powerfulness capableness and 3% of the energy produced – has been connected the government’s docket successful caller years to boost cleanable vigor production, amended grid stableness and determination towards its 2070 net-zero (zero net-carbon emissions) targets. This includes scaling up installed atomic powerfulness to 100 GW up from the existent 8.8 GW by 2047 and a ₹20,000-crore ngo announced successful the Budget this twelvemonth to make ‘small modular reactors’ and a slew of customised 220 MW Pressurised Heavy Water reactors (Bharat Small Modular Reactors).
