{"id":42405,"date":"2025-04-30T21:15:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T15:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=42405"},"modified":"2025-04-30T21:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T15:49:16","slug":"india-allowing-49-percent-foreign-stakes-in-nuclear-power-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-04-2025\/india-allowing-49-percent-foreign-stakes-in-nuclear-power-plants","title":{"rendered":"India Considers Allowing 49% Foreign Stakes in Nuclear Power Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Infrastructure and Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India could allow foreign companies to take a stake of up to 49% in its nuclear power plants, to help achieve goals to cut carbon emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Traditionally, nuclear power plants in India have been owned and operated only by state-owned <strong>Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL)<\/strong> and its fully-owned subsidiary <strong>Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To allow private sector participation government has proposed amendments to key legislations;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Atomic Energy Act, 1962<\/strong>, a framework for nuclear energy development and regulation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010,<\/strong> ensuring compensation mechanisms for nuclear incidents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>What is Nuclear Energy?<\/strong><br>&#8211; Nuclear energy is the <strong>energy released during nuclear reactions,<\/strong> either through fission (splitting of atomic nuclei) or fusion (merging of atomic nuclei).\u00a0<br>&#8211; <strong>In nuclear fission, <\/strong>heavy atomic nuclei, such as those of uranium or plutonium, are split into lighter nuclei, releasing a large amount of energy.\u00a0<br>1. This process is utilized in nuclear power plants to generate electricity.<br><strong>Status of Nuclear power capacity in India<\/strong><br>&#8211; The current installed nuclear power capacity in the country is<strong> 8,180 MW (2% <\/strong>of the total installed electricity capacity)<strong>,<\/strong> spread across <strong>24 nuclear power reactors.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Capacity Expansion:<\/strong> 10 new reactors (totaling 8 GW) under construction across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.<br>1. Approval for a <strong>6\u00d71208 MW<\/strong> nuclear plant in Andhra Pradesh in collaboration with the USA.<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"363\" height=\"203\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXcjQ4ZEXeLaOTiD56dJz5BU80Vdfk7jj6AYzPiNJCzkwkmg-5OWAdqH4coeU_vqa-aHQk0OAvXi0TlZ6pRemd4TheSBnjgAjfV8dI01qKglO2utys_7psGmPwjgAOdFUYSnom6q?key=G-KwmtE1R2YOXBwhsYYXbgN6\"><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for Foreign and Private Sector Involvement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Clean Energy Transition: <\/strong>India remains heavily dependent on coal, which accounts for over<strong> 70%<\/strong> of its electricity.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nuclear energy, being a stable and low-carbon source, is essential for reducing emissions without compromising baseload supply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High Capital Costs: <\/strong>Nuclear projects require large upfront investments. Allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) would enable faster resource mobilization and technology transfer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Post the 2008 Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement,<\/strong> India gained access to international nuclear markets. However, the expected commercial collaborations failed to materialize due to liability concerns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reform Proposals Under Consideration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>FDI up to 49% in Nuclear Sector: <\/strong>The government is considering amending existing laws to allow foreign companies to hold stake in nuclear power ventures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Atomic Energy Act, 1962: <\/strong>The proposed amendments would allow licensing of private players to construct, own, and operate nuclear power plants.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Easing Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010: <\/strong>It was enacted in the wake of the <strong>1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy<\/strong>, the Act imposes stringent liability on suppliers, which has deterred foreign participation.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Under the proposed amendments, the operator\u2019s right to claim compensation from the supplier would be <strong>capped to the contract value <\/strong>and be<strong> limited to a specified duration.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The draft law also proposes a lower liability cap on small reactor operators at<strong> $58 million,<\/strong> but is unlikely to alter the cap for large reactor operators from the current level of<strong> $175 million.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Regulatory and Safety Oversight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)<\/strong> and <strong>Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)<\/strong> will continue to supervise all activities.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any relaxation in investment norms will be coupled with strict compliance to India\u2019s safety protocols, aligned with the <strong>International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)<\/strong> guidelines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Clear Regulatory Framework:<\/strong> Establish a robust regulatory environment to ensure safety, compliance, and transparency, addressing concerns about accountability and national security.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gradual Implementation: <\/strong>Start with pilot projects and small-scale initiatives to test private sector involvement, ensuring risk management before large-scale implementation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/et\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>ET<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India could allow foreign companies to take a stake of up to 49% in its nuclear power plants, to help achieve goals to cut carbon emissions.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Traditionally, nuclear power plants in India have been owned and operated only by state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and its fully-owned subsidiary Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI).<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">To allow private sector participation government has proposed amendments to key legislations;<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-04-2025\/india-allowing-49-percent-foreign-stakes-in-nuclear-power-plants\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42405"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42422,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42405\/revisions\/42422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}