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SHANTI rules in 3 months, Act has spurred private, foreign interest: Jitendra Singh
India is set to implement the SHANTI Act and its accompanying rulebook for nuclear energy within three months, aiming to transform the sector by opening it to private and non-government entities. Minister Jitendra Singh highlighted growing international interest, including from the US, and emphasized cautious implementation to balance expanded participation with essential safeguards.
New Delhi: The government plans to roll out the new architecture and rulebook for nuclear energy, as outlined in the SHANTI Act, within the next three months, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Department of Atomic Energy & PMO said on Wednesday at the ET Roundtable, adding that he was quite "flattered" to learn that the new act was now the priority item of discussion for the US with India.
"There is a growing interest from the private sector and also from foreign collaborators. Like, incidentally, when the US Secretary of State was holding parleys with our Minister of External Affairs recently, he chose to talk about the SHANTI Act rather than anything else. That was flattering to hear," Singh said.
He added that the keenly-awaited rules to implement the SHANTI Bill are being actively worked upon but due caution is also being exercised given the wide implications involved for the sector. "We are taking time because one has to be very careful and cautious - it is also a new experience for us on the nuclear front. So, it must be carried forward very cautiously and also very diligently to target the expected outcomes. I don't think that given the quality of this initiative, it will be fair to tie this down to a very tight timeframe. But nevertheless, I think we might come out with the Rules not later than 2-3 months or so," the minister added at the ET Roundtable.
Singh underlined that the SHANTI Act and the upcoming rules will change the "entire format" of our nuclear energy-related activity, not only opening up to the private sector but also the non-government sector and other agencies. Given the many stakeholders, a careful balance must be made for the implementation of the new law. "The new format is going to be more accommodating while not compromising on the essential safeguards. Since we are opening it up on such a wide scale, we have to also consider the concerns and expectations of those who are going to partner with us. Otherwise, it may not be easy to move on optimally," he said.
On the issue of the SHANTI Act staying mum on the question of increasing FDI in nuclear power, the MoS held that while it is being examined, the Centre will by and large be guided by existing FDI norms and may consider bringing in some "specificity" if required.s
Singh also sounded optimistic about the scale up and pricing of nuclear power even when possibly more expensive foreign technologies come into India's own Pressurised Heavy Water-led nuclear energy mix. He held that once investment is on a larger scale and more equipment is developed domestically, costs will also come down "dramatically". "I think that is also one of the unwritten motivations behind opening it up to the private players, both domestically and foreign, so that the investment also comes in a bigger field," he observed.
On the Opposition questioning BJP's revision of its 2008 position on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Singh said it was more like "re-looking" at it, keeping in mind significant technology shifts and geo-political changes over the last 18 years. "The technology change is now much more sophisticated and more secure. Even the structure of reactors has changed, the size has changed. And the geopolitical conditions have changed... also from the point of view of the economy opening up in every sector. So, considering all that, in the changed milieu, we would justify this. Also, it's also not actually going back on a decision. It's just re-looking at things when you are dealing with such a dynamically changing sector or revolving sector. For example, at that time you didn't have small modular reactors. The clean energy concerns then were just coming on to occupy the world agenda," the minister maintained.
He also rejected the Opposition charge of alleged "dilution" of liability in the SHANTI framework and emphasised that the operator-supplier agreements on liability - independent of the government - will still hold. "It seems that it's been totally compromised, which is not so. The operator is still free to engage in an agreement with the supplier, nothing prevents him. At his level, he can do that but the government will be out of it as several other ancillary factors come in which the government should not have to handle," Singh said.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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