India Aims to Lure Foreign Nuclear Power Providers With Eased Liability Laws

India plans to remove an unlimited liability clause in its nuclear energy laws in a bid to attract foreign firms, especially U.S. companies, to its nuclear energy sector.

The Indian Department of Atomic Energy has prepared a bill that would remove a clause in the Civil Nuclear Liability Damage Act of 2010 that exposes suppliers to unlimited liability if accidents occur, government sources told . India plans a major expansion to its nuclear energy capacity in the coming decades as a pillar of reliable zero-carbon electricity to meet surging power demand. By capping the liability for suppliers of nuclear reactors, India seeks to attract foreign companies to an industry expected to become key to the country’s energy transition.



Currently, India has 8 gigawatts (GW) of operating nuclear capacity, operated by the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). In February, the federal budget outlined plans for a toward nuclear energy as part of India’s long-term energy transition strategy. The government now targets the country to have 100 GW of nuclear power generation capacity installed by 2047, “positioning nuclear energy as a major pillar in India’s energy mix,” the cabinet said.

India’s largest power utility, NTPC, plans to invest over the next two decades in building 30 GW of nuclear generation capacity, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told earlier this year. NTPC is also reportedly looking to hire consultants for feasibility studies for that could potentially replace some of the utility’s old coal-fired power plants. NTPC has issued India’s first such exploratory tender for SMRs, which are considered to be the future of nuclear power.

Small modular reactors (SMR) are believed to be to build and install. Because of their smaller size, it is possible to install SMRs on sites that are not suitable for bigger reactors. They are also significantly cheaper and faster to build than conventional reactors and can be constructed incrementally to meet the growing energy demand of a site.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com.