Union MoS Jitendra Singh speaks in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing winter session of Parliament, December 17, 2025. | Photo credit: ANI
Lok Sabha on Wednesday (December 17, 2025) passed Sustainable Use and Development of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025 despite demands from several opposition MPs to submit the legislation to a parliamentary panel. The bill now moves to the Rajya Sabha for discussion, after which it can become a law.
Winter Session of Parliament: Watch LIVE updates on 17 December 2025
Congress MP Manish Tewari, who opened debate on the bill after Science Minister Jitendra Singh’s opening remarks, sought to ascertain whether it was a “coincidence” that legislation allowing private sector participation in the nuclear sector coincided with an interest expressed in November by “conglomerate house … Adani” to enter the nuclear sector. Amid uproar in the House, Mr Singh countered that the bill had nothing to do with any particular company and such a slur had “brought the House into disrepute”.
Mr Tewari then delved into what is perhaps the most significant element of the SHANTI bill: removing a clause from the existing Nuclear Liability Act 2010 that allows a nuclear plant operator to seek compensation from suppliers if their equipment is found to be responsible in the event of an accident.
In 2008, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved a no-confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh government, among other reasons, for the absence of such a clause. Subsequently, it was also the reason for the lack of foreign participation in India’s nuclear sector, despite the US-India nuclear deal, which exempted India from Nuclear Suppliers Group sanctions, as it opened up potentially unlimited liability to foreign companies.
“I see now that there is no mention of contractors… god forbid if there is an accident… shouldn’t the foreign contractor be responsible,” asked Mr Tewari.
Also read | The SHANTI Bill encourages the private sector to build and operate nuclear power plants
Acknowledging that the BJP had expressed disapproval in the past, Mr Singh said the existence of the clause “caused reservations among associates” but the scenario today was different from 2010. “Times have changed… the technology has changed. Now we are in small modular reactors which did not exist as a technology at that time. Now the reactors will be dense – after the nuclear miss just announced there is now a Catastrophe risk. This bill is coming because the scenario has changed,” he said.
Samajwadi Party’s Aditya Yadav accused the government of bringing the bill by “sacrificing old laws… that kept public interest first” as the government, facing “a dollar that has crossed ₹90” and “unable to attract foreign investment”, was “desperate to roll out the red carpet to US companies” under pressure from “prevailing Trump tariffs”.
Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule (Sharad Pawar) asked how it was possible to limit the liability of facility operators to ₹3,000 crore. “How can you put a cap on it… how did you calculate this magic number,” she asked.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor reiterated this point. “The cost of cleaning up the Fukushima disaster has already exceeded $182 billion. The Chernobyl (disaster) impact of $700 billion…however, the total liability under this law is limited to ₹3,000 crore (or about $400 million). That hasn’t changed in 15 years,” he said, not keeping up with the inflation we have.
Mr Singh said that ₹3,000 crore was only the plant operator’s maximum liability and if higher amounts were required, they would come from the Nuclear Insurance Fund plus resources from the newly proposed Nuclear Liability Fund (pooled through rates).
EDITORIAL | Springboard: On nuclear policy, the SHANTI Act
“If we exceed these limits, we can benefit from the CSC (Convention on Complementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage). The reason for ‘graded operator responsibility’ was that it was necessary to encourage companies to invest in the development of small reactors,” he said. He pointed out that several provisions of the Act have been retained from the existing Indian nuclear laws and the current government has only “toughened up” the provisions and made nuclear governance relevant to current realities.
Privatization of the nuclear power sector – which currently accounts for 1.5% of India’s installed power capacity and 3% of electricity generated – has been on the government’s agenda in recent years to boost clean energy production, improve grid stability and move closer to its 2070 net-zero goals (zero net carbon emissions). This includes increasing installed nuclear power to 100 GW from the current 8.8 GW by 2047 and a ₹20,000 crore mission announced in this year’s budget to develop “small modular reactors” and a range of customized 220 MW pressurized heavy water reactors (Bharat Small Modular Reactors).
Published – 17 Dec 2025 22:06 IST
