Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SHANTI Bill does away with key provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, a concern raised in the United States’ National Defence Authorisation Act for 2026. File
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The Congress on Saturday (December 20, 2025) alleged that the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill was “bulldozed” in Parliament only to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi “restore SHANTI” with his “once good friend”.
Stepping stone: On nuclear policy, the SHANTI Bill
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SHANTI Bill does away with key provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, a concern raised in the United States’ National Defence Authorisation Act for 2026.
Stating that U.S. President Donald Trump has just signed the National Defence Authorisation Act for the US fiscal year 2026, Ramesh said in a post on X, “The Act is 3,100 pages long. Page 1,912 has a reference to the joint assessment between the United States and India on Nuclear Liability Rules.”
“Now we know for sure why the Prime Minister bulldozed the SHANTI Bill through Parliament earlier this week that, among other things, did away with key provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, that had been passed unanimously by Parliament”, the post said.
“It was to restore SHANTI with his once good friend. The SHANTI Act may well be called the TRUMP Act – The Reactor Use and Management Promise Act,” Mr. Ramesh claimed.
The U.S. Act on page 1,912 has a section under the heading ‘Joint assessment between the United States and India on Nuclear liability rules’.
It says, “The Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall establish and maintain within the U.S.-India Strategic Security Dialogue a joint consultative mechanism with the Government of the Republic of India that convenes on a recurring basis – “(A) to assess the implementation of the Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of India Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, signed at Washington, October 10, 2008 (TIAS 08–1206)”.
“(B) to discuss opportunities for the Republic of India to align domestic nuclear liability rules with international norms; (C) to develop a strategy for the United States and the Republic of India to pursue bilateral and multilateral diplomatic engagements related to analysing and implementing those opportunities,” it added.
Speaking on the Bill in Rajya Sabha, Mr. Ramesh had urged the government not to promote the private sector at the cost of the public sector in building nuclear power infrastructure, and called for encouraging the available indigenous technology to boost the energy capacity in the country.
He also said that private firms cannot be the growth engine of the nuclear sector as they cannot be brought over the country’s PSUs.
The Parliament on Thursday (December 18) passed the nuclear energy Bill, with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod to the legislation seeking to open the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation.
The Upper House passed the SHANTI Bill by a voice vote, while rejecting several amendments moved by the opposition members to send the proposed legislation to a parliamentary committee.
It was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (December 17).
Replying to a discussion on the Bill, Minister of State for Atomic Energy, Jitendra Singh, said it aims to make India self-reliant in nuclear energy and reduce dependence on other sources of energy.
Published – December 20, 2025 03:32 pm IST
