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The Centre introduced successful the Lok Sabha connected Monday (December 15, 2025) the SHANTI Bill that aims to incentivise backstage assemblage participation, some Indian and foreign, into atomic powerfulness production. It does this by replacing India’s existing laws — the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010, with the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear vigor for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025.
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The second creates an atomic vigor regulatory operation that is answerable to Parliament, removes the Nuclear Power Corporation of India’s monopoly implicit operating atomic plants, and restricts the instances nether which atomic powerfulness works operators tin assertion compensation from suppliers of instrumentality successful lawsuit of an accident. Simultaneously, it besides buffers operators by introducing limits connected the grade of their liability, successful lawsuit of violating the laws nether the Act, based connected the size of the plants they operate, and limits the maximum punishment connected them to ₹1 crore adjacent successful the lawsuit of a “severe breach”.
“The Bill...proposes a revised and pragmatic civilian liability model for atomic damage, confers statutory presumption connected the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), and strengthens mechanisms related to safety, security, safeguards, prime assurance and exigency preparedness,” a connection by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology said. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science and Technology, introduced the Bill successful the Lok Sabha.
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Privatising the atomic powerfulness sector, which presently makes up 1.5% of India’s installed powerfulness capacity, and 3% of the energy produced, has been connected the government’s docket successful caller years to boost cleanable vigor production, amended grid stability, 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; a ₹20,000 crore ngo announced successful the Union Budget this twelvemonth to make ‘small modular reactors’; and a slew of customised 220 MW pressurised dense h2o reactors (the ’Bharat Small Modular Reactors’).
While the precocious costs of installing atomic powerfulness plants, onshore acquisition, the disposal of used-up atomic fuel, and the apprehension of the fallout of atomic accidents person retarded atomic powerfulness enlargement successful India, investments successful the assemblage has been blimpish owed to the perchance unlimited liability to works operators and their partners successful lawsuit of an accident.
The CNLD enables those affected by a atomic mishap to assertion compensation from a atomic works relation upto ₹1,500 crore, and successful mentation involving the Centre upto ₹3,400 crore (at existent rates). These aforesaid laws besides let the works relation to assertion recourse from a supplier of instrumentality nether 3 instances, if (a) the supplier and an relation person an explicit statement (b) the atomic incidental has proved to beryllium owed to the suppliers’ oregon their equipment’s fault, and (c) the atomic incidental has resulted from deliberate intent to origin atomic damage.
The SHANTI Bill, portion repealing the CLND, adjacent removes the connection ‘supplier’ (which incidentally appeared lone erstwhile successful the CLND), and removes the lawsuit of suppliers oregon their instrumentality being liable for the mishap arsenic being grounds for operators to assertion compensation. This has been 1 of the demands of overseas atomic companies who person expressed involvement successful India.
“This is simply a agelong overdue reform. The Bill gives anticipation for large-scale innovation successful atomic exertion done amendments successful patent laws, aligns with planetary liability conventions, and proposes the enlargement of atomic vigor projects done backstage assemblage participation. Any mentation regarding the CNLD Act of 2010 seemed inadequate to overseas and home suppliers and vendors,” M.P. Ram Mohan, Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, an adept successful India’s atomic laws, told The Hindu. “In opening up the assemblage for backstage concern and operation, the relation of the AERB arsenic a information regulator assumes captious value — the regulatory process indispensable beryllium rigorous and participative, and the nationalist indispensable beryllium taken into confidence,” Prof. Ram Mohan said.
Diplomatic experts, who declined to beryllium identified, said that the government’s draught of the atomic Bill is “one measurement forward” successful presumption of addressing concerns from overseas atomic suppliers that person held up each contracts since 2010, but it inactive carries immoderate ambiguity implicit liability. The SHANTI Bill penalises operators successful lawsuit of a atomic accident, requiring them to compensate connected the ground of the size of plants operated and not the harm experienced successful itself. Installations with thermal powerfulness supra 3,600 MW tin person operators wage upto ₹3,000 crore; betwixt 1,500 MW and 3.600 MW upto ₹1,500 crore; and those little down (150 MW) to ₹100 crore.
Opposition MPs criticised the Bill. The Bill, on with two, unrelated others, should beryllium referred to a “Standing Committee” successful the “best of Parliamentary traditions and practices”, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh posted connected socia media level X.
The Bill “...concentrated powerfulness successful the Centre and its authorities…[and the] lack of organization independency undermined the doctrine of separation of powers”, Congress MP Manish Tewari said successful Parliament.
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In 2010, the past United Progressive Alliance (UPA) authorities faced terrible absorption from the past Opposition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the authorities of a “sell-out” by not including strict liability for atomic suppliers successful lawsuit of a atomic accident. The Opposition had drawn parallels to the Union Carbide state leak of 1984, wherever the U.S. institution and its American officials had been capable to flight without being prosecuted.
Under pressure, the authorities accepted amendments to the 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill by including Clause 17(a), which introduced the “suppliers liability” clause, and Clause 46, which allowed for the jurisdiction of a civilian tribunal successful definite cases. This had led to protests from prospective atomic suppliers, astir notably the U.S.’s Westinghouse, and France’s Areva, some of whom signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with India to conception atomic plants, but didn’t yet physique them, for a fig of reasons, including the liability issue.
During past U.S. President Barack Obama’s sojourn to Delhi successful January 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Obama discussed the issue, and the authorities announced that the problems had been resolved without changing the CLND Act. However, determination has been nary question connected a factual declaration with France, the U.S., and Japan, which supplies captious reactor components, contempt India having signed civilian atomic agreements with each of these countries. To date, lone Russia supplies and operates a atomic works successful India, successful Kudankulam, nether an statement signed anterior to the CLND Act.
