New Delhi: The Lok Sabha has passed the SHANTI Bill (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India), a move that opens India’s nuclear power sector to private companies for the first time. While the government has pitched the Bill as a step towards clean energy and economic growth, critics warn that it shifts serious risks from corporations to the public.
At the heart of the controversy is safety and accountability. Nuclear power is not like other industries—accidents, though rare, can have devastating and long-lasting consequences. Opposition MPs pointed out that the Bill weakens long-standing protections by limiting the financial liability of nuclear plant operators to ₹3,000 crore. In simple terms, if a major accident occurs and damages run into thousands of crores more, taxpayers may end up bearing much of the cost.
Congress MP Manish Tewari flagged the removal of a key safeguard from earlier laws that allowed operators to hold equipment suppliers responsible if faulty parts caused an accident. He questioned why ordinary citizens should pay the price for corporate mistakes. Others, including Shashi Tharoor, reminded the House that disasters like Fukushima cost hundreds of billions of dollars—far beyond the proposed liability cap.
The government argued that modern technology has made nuclear plants safer and said additional compensation mechanisms, such as insurance pools, would be available. However, it did not clearly explain how these would fully protect affected communities in a worst-case scenario.
Several MPs accused the government of rushing the Bill without proper scrutiny and refusing to send it to a parliamentary committee. They warned that privatisation, without strong safeguards, could prioritise profit over public safety.
The government says the Bill is crucial to expanding nuclear power from 8.8 GW to 100 GW by 2047. But critics argue that when it comes to nuclear energy, the real question is not just growth—but who pays the price if things go wrong.
