Draft Rules for India's SHANTI Act, 2025 Under Discussion to Boost Nuclear Power

New Delhi: The much-awaited first draft of the Rules and Regulations to operationalise the landmark SHANTI Act, 2025 (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act) has been prepared and is under discussion with key stakeholder ministries and departments, ET has learnt.

Alongside, industry inputs have also been sought on the proposed framework under the SHANTI Act and any concerns, if any, that may need to be addressed through the rules and regulations, it is gathered. While the Centre had initially indicated that the rules and regulations would be prepared within months of the SHANTI Act being passed by Parliament in December 2025, latest assessments are that the exercise is likely to extend over several more months as various issues involving multiple agencies are to be considered before the final notifications come.

The SHANTI Act is key to India's target of achieving 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047. It also marks a structural shift in India's nuclear energy policy, with the new act consolidating regulation, enforcement, civil liability and dispute resolution within a single statute, opening the tightly-controlled sector to the private sector, including foreign entities.

The rollout of the act, however, is contingent upon the Centre notifying the rules and regulations.

Several rounds of discussions are underway to ensure that all relevant aspects are clearly detailed in the rules and regulations, ensuring full alignment with the SHANTI Act, 2025 and leaving no scope for contradictions or alternate interpretations in the future, people well versed with the issue told ET. They also maintained that there are no "sticky points" or misgivings from any stakeholder or department holding back the rules and regulations. Rather, the exhaustive nature of issues that need to be detailed under Sections 84 and 85 of the act has made the process extensive and time-consuming. Section 84 of the SHANTI Act, 2025 specifies the rules that the government needs to frame for implementing the provisions of the act. It covers 26 areas, ranging from measures for the security of radioactive substances, application and licensing procedures, terms and conditions for granting licences, insurance policies, and procedures to be followed by the search-cum-selection committee for recommending the chairperson and members of the board, to inspection, verification and investigation procedures, filing of appeals before the appellate tribunal, and adjudication of claims for nuclear damage and so on.

Similarly, Section 85 of the act lists eight areas for regulations, including activities requiring safety authorisation, radiological emergencies, and the time, place, rules of procedure and quorum for meetings of the board and so on. Every rule and regulation framed under the act will also have to be laid before both Houses of Parliament under Section 86, requiring considerable scrutiny at the drafting stage itself, sources indicated.