India Opens Nuclear Power to Private Players: What the SHANTI Bill Changes
For over six decades, nuclear power in India was a state monopoly. Private firms could manufacture equipment but were barred from owning plants, operating reactors, or handling nuclear fuel. That framework has now fundamentally changed with the passage of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025—the biggest reform in India’s nuclear policy since 1962.
The new law replaces the earlier Atomic Energy Act (1962) and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (2010). Its most important shift is opening nuclear power generation to private Indian companies, while keeping sensitive areas under government control. Private firms can now build, own, and operate nuclear reactors, generate electricity, and sell it to the grid—something that was previously reserved only for government entities like NPCIL.
A major bottleneck has also been resolved: supplier liability. Earlier, equipment suppliers could be held liable for nuclear accidents decades later, which scared away both domestic and foreign players. Under the SHANTI Act, liability rests primarily with the operator, aligning India with global norms. Liability limits are now graded by reactor size, making private participation—especially in small modular reactors (SMRs)—far more practical.
However, this is not full deregulation. The government retains control over uranium mining, enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, and waste disposal, due to national security concerns. Regulation has been strengthened by giving the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) statutory status, though it remains institutionally linked to the atomic establishment.
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