India is planning to relieve its nuclear responsibility laws to limit the sanctions of equipment suppliers, three government sources said, in a movement mainly to attract US companies that have been delayed due to the risk of unlimited exosition.
The proposal of the Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the last step to expand the capacity of nuclear energy production in 12 times to 100 gigawatts by 2047, as well as provide a filling to India in commercial negotiations and rates with the United States.
A bill prepared by the Atomic Energy Department eliminates a key clause in the 2010 Civil Nuclear Responsibility Damage Law that exposes suppliers to the orlimited responsibility for accidents, the three sources said.
The Atomic Energy Department of India, the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance did not respond to the requests looking for comments.
“India needs nuclear energy, which is clean and essential,” said Debashra Mishra, Growth Director of Deloitte South Asia.
“A responsibility limit will relieve the main concern of nuclear reactor suppliers.”
The amendments are in line with international standards that put the responsibility of the operator to maintain security instead of the nuclear reactor supplier.
Nueva Delhi expects changes to relieve concerns mainly from US companies such as General Electric CO and Westinghouse Electric Co that have been on the sidelines for years due to unlimited risks in case of accidents.
Analysts say that the approval of the amended law is crucial for negotiations between India and the United States for a commercial agreement this year with the aim of raising bilateral trade to $ 500 billion by 2030 from $ 191 billion last year.
The Modi administration is confident in obtaining the approval of the amendments in the session of the Parliament Monzón, which will begin in July, according to the sources.
According to the proposed amendments, the right of the operator to the compensation of the supplier in the case of an accident will be limited to the value of the contract. It will also be subject to a period to specify in the contract.
Currently, the law does not define a limit to the amount of compensation that an operator can see of the suppliers and the period for which the supplier can be responsible for the hero.
The law arose from the Bhopal disaster
The 2010 nuclear responsibility law of India arose from the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, the most fatal industrial accident in the world, in a factory owned by the United States Multinational Union, Carbide Corp, in which 5,000 people were killed.
Union Carbide agreed to pay an agreement outside the court or $ 470 million in damages in 1989.
The Law of Current Effective Responsibility excluded Western companies from a large market, and also struggled for relations between the United States and India since they reached an agreement on nuclear cooperation in 2008.
He also left American companies at a disadvantage for Russian and French companies whose responsibility for accidents is subscribed by their governments.
The draft law also proposes a lower responsibility limit in small reactor operators at $ 58 million, but it is unlikely that the limit for large reactor operators of the current level of $ 175 million, said the three sources.
India is betting on nuclear energy to meet its growing energy demand without committing zero net commitments, for which it proposes to allow private Indian partners to build such plants.
Indian conglomerates such as Reliance Industries, Tata Power, Adani Power and Vedanta Ltd have maintained discussions with the government to invest around $ 5.14 billion each in the sector.
Posted on April 18, 2025
