New Delhi: The Sustainable Harnessing of Atomic Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, paving the way for the entry of the private sector in India’s nuclear energy sector. The Bill met stiff resistance from a range of opposition MPs, most saying that the entry of private companies in the Indian Nuclear Energy Sector will only help profiteering and ensure barely any support to the common public who are bearing the brunt of high electricity prices. INDIA bloc MPs staged a walk out as the Bill was cleared as their demand that it should be sent to either a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a Standing Committee was not entertained. ‘Shouldn’t the supplier be liable?’Congress MP Manish Tewari opened for the opposition to the bill, outlining that the SHANTI bill was replacing two existing progressive legislations. He recalled that India’s nuclear programme towards self-dependence was first introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru. He said that the BJP-led government was undermining India’s energy independence and clean energy goals by breaking the 2010 consensus on the nuclear liability regime that made suppliers liable for nuclear accidents. He also tore into the draft bill for “not providing clarity on the role of the atomic energy regulator.”Although Tewari didn’t oppose the entry of foreign players in the nuclear energy sector, he said that supplier’s liability should be fixed and, more importantly, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s independence should be ensured. Both these concerns are not addressed by the bill, Tewari said. “If a nuclear accident takes place, since we are dependent on foreign suppliers…shouldn’t the supplier be liable?” he asked.Also read: Modi’s SHANTI Bill Promises Peace for Nuclear Suppliers – A Free Pass for Accidents Caused By Defective EquipmentHe also criticised the $410 million cap on liability fixed in the bill, he demanded a cap of Rs 10,000 crore, citing that the cap was $470 million 15 years ago during the 184 Bhopal Gas Tragedy. He went on to oppose the clause that government-run installations will be exempt from insurance cover, and asked whether compensation in case of a tragedy will be entirely borne out by the government. He also expressed concern over the alleged lack of a robust mechanism for nuclear waste disposal in the bill. “Manmohan Singh was trying to break the n-apartheid…You (BJP) tried to derail the n-programme,” Tewari said, demanding that the bill should be sent to a JPC or Standing Committee. ‘Pro-private organisations’Tewari, however, provoked the treasury benches by making an allegation that the bill came a month after a private conglomerate announced its plans to enter the nuclear energy sector in India. “Is it a coincidence,” he asked, even as union minister Jitendra Singh, who introduced the bill, termed the allegation as “unfounded and politically motivated”. Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Ray opposed the entry of major private players in the nuclear energy sector of India, and demanded that liability cap should be increased. CPI(ML) MP Sudama Prasad said that the SHANTI Bill is “anti-public, anti-environment” and “seeks to profit private organisations”. He asked whether the government was incapable of fulfilling energy requirements of India, and feared that handing over such a sensitive energy source to private sector may lead to “monopolisation”. ‘Unclear Bill’Biju Janata Dal MP, Rabindra Narayan Behera, however supported the bill. “With strong R&D, India has been able to achieve self-reliance in Nuclear technology and has been carrying out the nuclear programme in a responsible manner,” he said, adding that diversification of the energy sector may lead to lower electricity prices for consumers. “This [Bill] will definitely help New Bharat,” he said. Samajwadi Party MPs like Aditya Yadav and Pushpendra Saroj opposed the bill on various grounds like the Bill’s non-commitment to proper waste disposal and pointed out that the BJP had opposed the India-US Nuclear deal in 2008 when it was in opposition. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor attacked the Union government and termed the bill as “not nuclear but unclear bill” and “a dangerous bill,” and asked it to be referred to a Standing Committee or a JPC. While introducing the bill, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, said that it seeks to repeal the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and replace them with “a single, comprehensive law aligned with India’s present and future energy requirements”. He claimed that the bill allows for a “pragmatic civil liability regime for nuclear damage and to confer statutory status to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.”The SHANTI Bill will allow the Centre to issue licenses to a private company or a government enterprise or a joint venture to build, own, operate, or decommission a nuclear power plan or a reactor, fabrication of nuclear fuel including conversion, refining and enrichment of transportable uranium-235, import, export, acquisition or possession of nuclear fuel.