SHANTI bill to open up nuclear sector gets parliament nod amid opposition's concerns over lack of supplier liability

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the bill to open up nuclear power generation to the private sector and ease liabilities on suppliers amid the Opposition's concerns over allowing private players in the sector and the lack of liabilities for suppliers of components.

During the proceedings, amendments proposed by Opposition leaders to send the matter to the select committee of the Rajya Sabha were rejected.

With this, the much-awaited bill has received parliamentary approval and will next require the president's assent for enactment. The Lok Sabha had cleared the 'Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (Shanti) Bill, 2025' on Wednesday.

The legislation dismantles a decades-old monopoly that allowed only government-owned companies to operate nuclear plants. The bill proposes to permit any company or joint venture to construct, own, operate, or decommission a nuclear power plant or reactor within the country. Currently, only government-owned companies are permitted to do so.

Further, the bill also proposes to exclude suppliers of components and fuel from liability in the event of damages caused.

The legislation comes in the backdrop of the government's goal to increase the share of nuclear power in the country’s energy basket. Nuclear energy is a non-fossil source of energy and, cleaner than oil, gas, or coal, making it a key energy source for achieving global energy transition goals. India's current nuclear power capacity is 8.7GW, and the government has set an ambitious target to install 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047.

“In the last 10-11 years, India has assumed a global role for itself. India is no longer following others as it happened earlier...we are the first line nation. We are no longer followers. India is offering cues for others to follow,” said the Union minister of state (independent charge) for atomic energy, Jitendra Singh.

Stable nuclear power

As the usage of coal for power generation declines in the long run, nuclear is expected to provide the baseload to the power system. This gains significance as the other clean sources of power, wind and solar, are intermittent and may bring about instability to the grid. In such situations, nuclear power provides the required stability, a role currently filled by thermal power plants.

“We also require nuclear energy, which is a reliable 24x7 energy source, unlike other renewable energy options,” Singh said.

On the back of the government’s plans to boost nuclear power in the country and open up the sector, several private companies, including the Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Tata Power Ltd, have shown interest in entering this space.

According to the bill, any department, institution, or company of the government, a joint venture, or any other person permitted by the Centre shall be eligible to apply for a licence for the purpose of setting up nuclear power facilities or any other related activities, as well as the import and transportation of nuclear fuel.

Apart from exempting research, development and innovation activities from the requirement of a licence, the Bill would “provide for a pragmatic civil liability regime for nuclear damage”, according to its statement of objects.

As proposed in the bill, the operator of the nuclear installation shall be liable for nuclear damage caused by a nuclear incident in the installation, or involving nuclear material transported from that installation, if it occurs before the liability for a nuclear incident involving such nuclear material has been assumed, pursuant to a written agreement by another operator or another operator has taken custody of such nuclear material.

Liability exemption

The bill has, however, provided an exemption to the operator from liabilities in case of damages caused by a nuclear incident due to “a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character, an act of armed conflict, hostility, civil war, insurrection or terrorism”.

In an endeavour to ease the liability norms for suppliers and attract global players, the bill proposes to eliminate the contentious supplier liability clause—Section 46 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND Act). Global suppliers of components had been concerned about the law allegedly allowing action against suppliers in the event of any damage.

The Bill also proposes changes to the ‘rights to recourse’ for operators, allowing them to seek reimbursement from third parties such as suppliers for faulty components or other issues.

Opposition criticises bill

Opposing the bill, Priyanka Chaturvedi, member of Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, said: “The future generations will not forgive us if we don't strengthen the regulatory framework and do not oppose this bill today.”

“We are talking of completely eliminating liability on suppliers. We are capping the liability (on operators) at ₹3,000 crore. In the cleaning up of the Fukushima tragedy $200 billion has been spent, and it still continues. Post the Chernobyl incident $700 billion was spent...and here we are going to cap (the liability) at ₹3,000 crore, we are going to remove the supplier liability clause. Secondly, we have also capped the operator liability. We are inviting them to come and invest in our country, but they will have no accountability towards our citizens,” said the leader of Shiv Sena UBT, while adding that there is a need to fix the accountability so that the citizens do not have to pay for any damages caused.

Jairam Ramesh, member of Rajya Sabha from Karnataka and Congress leader, raised questions over the intent of the government and said that the bill has been brought about only to benefit the private sector.

“You have said that Viksit Bharat would have 100 GW of nuclear (power generation) capacity… growing 10 times from now. I want to ask you, what is your vision? How much would be the share of the private sector and how much for the public sector?..This bill will only benefit the private sector,” he said while referring to the opening address of minister Singh.

He also stated that India can be self-reliant in nuclear technology, as the country has already established reactors of up to 700 MW. Ramesh also said that India should shift towards using thorium as the fuel for nuclear power rather than uranium. India is import-dependent for uranium, while the country is rich in thorium

“We are a uranium-deficit country but a thorium-rich country. We need to look at ways to increase the use of thorium,” he said.