The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act, 2025

What it does

The Act (Act No. 39 of 2025) is known in the Department of Atomic Energy's own papers as the SHANTI Act. Once in force, it makes any company incorporated in India, alone or in a joint venture, eligible to apply for a licence to build, own, operate and decommission a nuclear power plant. The text contains no ceiling on the equity a private investor may hold in the licensee. The licence is granted by the Central Government, and a safety authorisation from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board is needed in addition where radiation exposure is likely.

The Act keeps some activities with the State: enrichment, management of spent fuel including reprocessing, and the production of heavy water are reserved to the Central Government or an institution it wholly owns. Working of uranium and thorium mines is confined to the Government and to Government companies.

On liability, the operator of a nuclear installation is liable for nuclear damage, subject to the exceptions in the Act, and the operator's liability is capped by the size of the reactor. The caps run from INR 100 crore to INR 3,000 crore under a schedule to the Act. The operator has a right of recourse against another person only where a written contract provides for it, or where the incident resulted from an individual's act or omission done with the intention to cause nuclear damage. The Act has no provision that makes a supplier liable.

Who it binds

Applicants for and holders of licences, holders of safety authorisations, operators of nuclear installations and persons who handle prescribed equipment, radioactive substances and related technology. Licences are required for activities such as importing and exporting prescribed equipment, and a manufacturer or supplier owes duties under the rules to be made. A company that is owned, controlled or dominated by entities inimical to defence and national security, or to the health and safety of the public, may be refused a licence, and an existing licence may be suspended or cancelled on that ground.

What moved out of it

The Act repeals the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and saves action taken and existing rules until they are superseded. The licensing of nuclear activity, which sat in the first of those Acts, and the liability regime, which sat in the second, are now in this one.

What has changed, and when

The Act received assent on 20 December 2025 and was published in the Gazette of India on 21 December 2025. It comes into force on the date the Central Government appoints by notification, and different dates may be fixed for different provisions. As at 28 October 2026, the site's note has found no notification that brings any provision into force. Draft rules and draft regulations were published for comment on 14 August 2026, with comment open until 4 September 2026, and no final version has been found.

What turns on it in practice

The questions that matter to a business are the ones the Act leaves open. Commencement has not happened, so a project plan cannot assume a licensing route. Whether foreign investment limits apply to a licensee is not stated in the Act. The notification that specifies prescribed equipment will decide which components need a licence. The final rules may change the draft treatment of domestic manufacturers and of the security a licensee must hold.

For a supplier, the position on recourse is a matter of contract, because the Act gives the operator recourse only where the contract provides it. A supplier that agrees to a clause giving recourse sets its own exposure, and the Act states no limit. For a licensee, the schedule fixes the cap by reactor size, and the cap for each installation is stated separately. The firm's projects practice reads the Act with the draft rules and the draft regulations, which are related instruments on this site, and treats the points above as unsettled.