SHANTI Bill bulldoze not only for 'TRUMP but also for ADANI': Congress

The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at the Modi government over the passage of the SHANTI Bill, saying it was bulldozed in Parliament not only for TRUMP but also for ADANI.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, shared a screenshot of a media report on X, which claimed that the Adani group plans a nuclear energy foray after private firms get a go-ahead to enter the sector.

Parliament on Thursday passed the nuclear energy Bill, with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod to the legislation seeking to open the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation.

 

"SHANTI was bulldozed through in Parliament not only for TRUMP (The Reactor Use Management Programme) but also for ADANI (Accelerated Damaging Adhiniyam for Nuclear India)," Ramesh claimed.

The Congress on Saturday alleged that the SHANTI Bill was "bulldozed" in Parliament only to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi restore SHANTI with his once good friend.

Ramesh had said the SHANTI Bill does away with key provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, a concern raised in the United States' National Defence Authorisation Act for 2026.

Stating that US President Donald Trump has just signed the National Defence Authorisation Act for the US fiscal year 2026, Ramesh had said in a post on X, "The Act is 3,100 pages long. Page 1,912 has a reference to the joint assessment between the United States and India on Nuclear Liability Rules.

Now we know for sure why the Prime Minister bulldozed the SHANTI Bill through Parliament earlier this week that, among other things, did away with key provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, that had been passed unanimously by Parliament.

It was to restore SHANTI with his once good friend," the Congress leader said, attaching a copy of the US Act in his post.

The SHANTI Act may well be called the TRUMP Act The Reactor Use and Management Promise Act Ramesh had claimed.

Speaking on the Bill in Rajya Sabha, Ramesh had urged the government not to promote the private sector at the cost of the public sector in building nuclear power infrastructure, and called for encouraging the available indigenous technology to boost the energy capacity in the country.

He also said that private firms cannot be the growth engine of the nuclear sector as they cannot be brought over the country's PSUs.

The Upper House passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill by a voice vote, while rejecting several amendments moved by the opposition members to send the proposed legislation to a parliamentary committee.

It was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Replying to a discussion on the Bill, Minister of State for Atomic Energy, Jitendra Singh, said it aims to make India self-reliant in nuclear energy and reduce dependence on other sources of energy.