SHANTI bill to create investment-ready framework, shape civil nuclear sector for generations: Harsh Vardhan Shringla

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) India stands at a decisive juncture in its energy journey and the nuclear energy bill will shape the civil nuclear sector for generations, ending fragmented governance and creating an investment-ready framework, BJP-nominated member Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday.

Participating in the debate on the Sustainable Harnessing of Atomic Energy for Transformation (SHANTI) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the former diplomat said that with electricity demand projected to more than double by 2040 and the country preparing to retire ageing coal assets, nuclear energy becomes indispensable for sustainability, grid stability and energy security.

"The vision of PM Modi is to take the nuclear power sector to 100 GW by 2047. Today we are close to 9 GW. The increase will make India a leading global player in the segment, and for that, we need an investment of over Rs 19 lakh crore and that is not clearly possible in the realm of the public sector. We have to open up to the private sector," Shringla stated.

He noted that the bill enables controlled private, foreign and joint-venture participation in nuclear power generation, while strategic functions such as uranium enrichment, fuel reprocessing and spent-fuel management remain exclusively with the Government.

"This is not privatisation; this is partnership with accountability," he added.

He said the legislation provides regulatory certainty by creating a uniform national legal framework for licensing, safety approvals, liability and compensation, aligned with international standards and harmonised with laws such as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Shringla highlighted that between 2014 and 2015, India's total installed generation capacity has crossed 500 GW as of late 2025, with more than 50 per cent from non-fossil sources.

He noted that solar capacity surged from 2.8 GW in 2014 to over 100 GW in 2025, and that India achieved its 2030 target of 50 per cent non-fossil capacity five years ahead of schedule.

He stressed that while solar and wind are essential, they are intermittent, and sustaining round-the-clock electricity for households, industry, digital infrastructure and data centres needs clean, firm baseload power.

Shringla noted that sovereign wealth funds, particularly from West Asia, have shown interest in co-financing Small Modular Reactor (SMR) manufacturing and deployment, especially as nearly 20 per cent of India's coal fleet is over 25 years old.

Favouring the legislation, Sudha Murty said that the country will have to begin from somewhere if the target is to achieve 100 gigawatt power generation by 2047.

The effort would require a lot of capital and that is the reason why privatisation is required, she added.

Various opposition parties however, attacked the government over the dilution of liability clauses under the new bill.

CPI-M leader A A Rahim said the liability safeguards were not enough and sought sending the legislation to a parliamentary joint committee for enhanced scrutiny.

Opposing the bill, Ram Gopal Yadav of SP noted that the bill should have gone to a standing committee for more deliberations. Yadav said the bill is meant to give entry to few private sector players to enter the critical segment.

BSP's Ramji spoke about dangers associated with the disposal of radioactive waste products coming out of the reactors. Priyanka Chaturvedi of SS-UBT charged that the supplier liability is being reduced in the bill. PTI MSS MR MR