SHANTI Bill 2025: A New Nuclear Energy Era for India Published By Anupam Nath India is entering a new phase of its clean energy transition with the SHANTI Bill 2025, a landmark reform that rewires the country’s nuclear energy framework for the 21st century. The Bill aims to deliver 24/7 uninterrupted, low‑carbon power while reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and aligning with India’s net‑zero commitments. At its core, the SHANTI Bill replaces legacy nuclear laws, opens the civil nuclear sector to private and foreign investors, and establishes a modern safety and liability regime. This combination is designed to unlock large‑scale nuclear capacity, including advanced technologies such as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which can support data centers, AI infrastructure and energy‑hungry industrial clusters with reliable clean baseload power. A key promise of the Bill is moving from “energy scarcity” to “energy sovereignty”. By scaling domestic nuclear generation and gradually leveraging India’s vast thorium reserves, policymakers see nuclear as a strategic tool to cut fuel imports, stabilise long‑term power prices, and give households and businesses predictable electricity costs. This stability is especially important for sectors like healthcare, where uninterrupted power supports advanced diagnostics, and for agriculture, where reliable energy underpins cold chains and food preservation. The reform also rests on a “trust and growth” model that treats Indian industry as a partner rather than a risk. Private capital and technology are expected to accelerate project execution and innovation, while the state retains control over sensitive activities such as nuclear fuel, reprocessing, and radioactive waste management. At the same time, the Bill strengthens independent oversight by giving the nuclear regulator a clearer statutory basis and aligning safety norms more closely with global best practices. Supporters argue that the SHANTI framework can create high‑skill, high‑salary jobs for engineers, technicians, welders and researchers across the nuclear supply chain. They see it as foundational for India’s ambition to become a global hub for advanced nuclear technologies and thorium‑based reactors by 2047. However, critics caution about capped operator liability and the removal of supplier liability, warning that accountability must remain robust to avoid “privatising profits and socialising risks” in the event of an accident. If implemented carefully, the SHANTI Bill 2025 could become a pillar of India’s clean energy mix alongside solar, wind and storage, providing round‑the‑clock green power and reinforcing strategic autonomy. The real test will lie in translating legal reform into timely projects, transparent regulation, and public confidence in nuclear safety over the long term.
