Bill in LS to open up nuclear sector to private players

A new bill seeks to overhaul laws governing India’s civil nuclear sector, opening it up to private participation and putting in place a new liability regime, in a bid to address concerns voiced by the industry partners.

The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025, seen as a comprehensive legislation to harness India’s full nuclear power potential, seeks to repeal the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.

“The Bill seeks to provide for a pragmatic civil liability regime for nuclear damage and to confer statutory status to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,” Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh said.

The Bill adds that the operator shall be liable for damages except those caused by “a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character, an act of armed conflict, hostility, civil war, and insurrection or terrorism”.

But the operator won’t be liable for damages in “under-construction nuclear installation itself and any other nuclear installation including a nuclear installation under construction, on the site where such installation is located, any property on the same site which is used or to be used in connection with any such installation; or the means of transport upon which the nuclear material involved was carried at the time of nuclear incident.”

“The maximum amount of liability in respect of each nuclear incident shall be the rupee equivalent of three hundred million Special Drawing Rights or such higher amount as the central government may, by notification, specify,” the legislation adds.

Special drawing rights are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund. The new legislation is aligned to achieve the objectives of increasing the share of nuclear energy in the total energy mix of India, facilitating innovation in nuclear science and technology, expanding its use in non-power applications and continuing to honour India’s obligations towards safety, security, safeguards and towards nuclear liability, Singh said.

The Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of the Atomic Energy Redressal Advisory Council for the redressal of disputes.