Winter session: Government to introduce Atomic Energy Bill opening nuclear sector to private players

NEW DELHI: A Bill seeking to open up the civil nuclear sector for private players and a proposed law on Higher Education are among the ten new proposed legislations listed by the government for introduction in the winter session of Parliament, beginning December 1. Besides the crucial The Atomic Energy Bill, 2025, which seeks to govern the use and regulation of atomic energy in India, the Higher Education Commission of India Bill is also on the agenda. For a long time, the government has been planning to amend the Atomic Energy Act to allow private sector participation and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act to limit the liability on suppliers of equipment to build atomic energy plants. In her budget speech in February this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that development of at least 100 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear energy by 2047 is essential for Indias energy transition efforts, and for an active partnership with the private sector towards this goal, amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) will be taken up. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited operates atomic power plants across the country that contribute 8.7 GWe to the countrys energy mix. Foreign nuclear power firms had evinced interest in setting up atomic power plants in India after it secured a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group to engage in global nuclear trade. The NSG waiver came after the landmark India-US civil nuclear deal of 2008. However, the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010 proved to be an impediment for private sector participation. The private sector termed certain provisions of the law unacceptable and contradicted the international Convention for Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC). According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, the proposed law seeks to set up a Higher Education Commission of India to facilitate universities and other higher educational institutes to promote excellence through a robust and transparent system of accreditation and autonomy.It has long been on the governments agenda. The National Highways (Amendment) Bill, also listed for introduction, seeks to ensure faster and transparent land acquisition for national highways. Another proposed legislation is the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which aims at tweaking the Companies Act, 2013 and LLP Act, 2008.