Overview
- Parliament approved the SHANTI Bill, replacing the 1962 atomic law and the 2010 liability statute with a single framework that also introduces a tailored inventions and patents regime for nuclear technologies.
- The law retains a 300 million SDR accident ceiling, introduces graded operator caps, creates a government-backed Nuclear Liability Fund, and classifies terrorism as a sovereign risk with state responsibility.
- Supplier exposure is reduced as operators’ right of recourse is largely limited to contractual terms or intentional wrongdoing, aligning India more closely with Convention on Supplementary Compensation practice.
- Licensing authority stays with the central government while safety authorisation shifts to a strengthened Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, which will need added capacity and faster rulemaking.
- Coverage diverges on whether foreign-incorporated firms can hold licences even as private participation expands, a pending clarification seen as critical to scaling from about 8.8 GW today toward 100 GW by 2047.