New bill to open nuclear power to pvt firms, rid supplier liability

The Union government introduced the muchanticipated bill on Monday to open up nuclear power generation to private players, while excluding global suppliers of components and fuel from liability.

- Rituraj Baruah & Nehal Chaliawala

The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 (SHANTI) permits 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 establish nuclear power plants.

Approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday (December 12), the legislation aims to boost investments in the nuclear power sector to help India achieve its ambitious target of 100GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047. According to a Goldman Sachs report last week, the Indian government is estimated to place 1,400 megawatts (MW) of nuclear reactor orders annually until fiscal year 2034 (FY34), with small modular reactors (SMR) orders commencing from FY32.

Indian conglomerates, including the Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Tata Power Ltd, have publicly shown interest in entering the nuclear energy space.