The Lok Sabha on December 17 passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (Shanti) Bill, 2025, which seeks to rewrite India’s civil nuclear framework. If enacted, the legislation will repeal the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, replacing them with a single, consolidated statute governing nuclear power generation, safety regulation, liability and compensation, as well as non-power applications of nuclear and ionising radiation.The government has pitched the Bill as essential to scaling up nuclear power as part of India’s long-term clean energy strategy. While the Bill was cleared in the Lower House of Parliament, opposition parties raised concerns around safety, accountability and the implications of opening the sector to private companies.What is the Shanti Bill?The Shanti Bill proposes a unified law governing the production, use, regulation and expansion of nuclear energy and ionising radiation in India. Its scope goes beyond electricity generation to include non-power applications of nuclear technology in areas such as health care, agriculture, industry and scientific research.Currently, nuclear activity such as licensing, safety regulation and liability are governed by separate laws. The Bill seeks to replace this structure with a single statutory framework covering licensing, safety authorisation, regulation, liability, compensation and oversight.Why it mattersThe Bill is closely linked to the government’s ambition to scale India’s nuclear power capacity sharply over the next two decades, including through the development of Small Modular Reactors and indigenous reactor designs. The government has said greater private participation is essential to mobilise capital, technology and execution capacity at the scale required.The need for a new nuclear lawUntil now, India’s nuclear sector has been largely state-controlled, with limited scope for private companies. The central government argues this framework was designed for a far more limited programme and has struggled to keep pace with India’s energy needs and technological ambitions.In the Lok Sabha debate on December 17, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State with charge of the Department of Atomic Energy, described the Bill as a “historic” step to expand nuclear power, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and ensure round-the-clock clean energy. He invoked Homi Bhabha’s vision for India’s nuclear programme and linked the proposed reforms to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to position nuclear energy as a pillar of India’s long-term development and climate strategy.The government has also tied the Bill to broader goals such as net-zero emissions by 2070, the need for stable power for energy-intensive sectors, and the expansion of non-power applications of nuclear technology in health care, agriculture and industry.Opening nuclear power to private companiesOne of the biggest changes proposed in the Bill is ending the effective state monopoly over nuclear power generation. Until now, activities such as building and operating nuclear power plants were largely restricted to public sector entities, primarily the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.Under the Bill, Indian private companies, joint ventures and other entities expressly permitted by the central government would be eligible to apply for licences to build, own, operate and decommission nuclear power plants, as well as undertake related activities such as fuel fabrication and storage.Companies incorporated outside India or controlled by foreign entities would not be permitted to hold licences.However, activities such as uranium enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing and heavy water production remain reserved exclusively for the central government or its entities.Safety and regulationThe Bill proposes to give statutory status to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), India’s nuclear safety regulator, which currently functions under executive orders.Under the proposed framework, the AERB would be responsible for setting safety standards, regulating radiation exposure, issuing safety authorisations, conducting inspections and enforcing compliance across nuclear and radiation facilities. The Bill also gives authorities the power to suspend or cancel licences if activities are found to be unsafe or contrary to public interest.To handle disputes, the Bill has proposed the creation of an Atomic Energy Redressal Advisory Council, with appeals eventually going before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity and the Supreme Court.Liability and compensationLiability provisions were among the most debated aspects of the Bill in the Lok Sabha.The Bill retains the principle of no-fault liability, meaning victims of a nuclear incident would not be required to prove negligence to claim compensation. It proposes a revised liability framework under which the operator of a nuclear installation is primarily liable for damage arising from an incident, subject to limits specified in the schedules to the Bill.Operators would be required to maintain insurance or other financial security to cover their liability, with the central government stepping in beyond the operator’s limit in specified circumstances. The Bill also provides for a Nuclear Damage Claims Commission to adjudicate compensation claims.A major change is the removal of statutory supplier liability for defective equipment, which was introduced in the 2010 law. Under the proposed framework, operators may seek recourse against suppliers only if such a right is explicitly provided for in a contract or if the damage resulted from a deliberate act.Why has supplier liability drawn criticism?Congress MP Manish Tewari opposed the Bill and urged that it be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, arguing that several provisions lacked clarity and required wider scrutiny. He questioned whether the Bill adequately defined the role and independence of the regulator, and said the government had failed to address concerns around safety and oversight.Speaking to media outside Parliament, Tewari said the opposition walked out of the Lok Sabha in protest after the government did not respond to what he described as two core issues, including why suppliers would be completely absolved of liability even if a faulty product caused a nuclear accident.A ‘dangerous leap’: Shashi TharoorCongress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the Shanti Bill as a “dangerous leap into privatised nuclear expansion”, arguing during the Lok Sabha debate that commercial interests must not override public safety, environmental protection and justice for victims.He questioned the Bill’s broad licensing provisions, warning that allowing the Centre to permit “any company or person” could lead to excessive private control across the nuclear fuel cycle and increase systemic risk. Tharoor also challenged the proposed liability cap, saying it was inadequate when compared with the economic costs of disasters such as Fukushima and Chernobyl, and criticised the Bill’s portrayal of nuclear energy as “clean and abundant” without adequately accounting for long-term risks.What happens next?The Lok Sabha has passed the Bill, but it must still be approved by the Rajya Sabha before it can become a law.