The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, passed by both Houses of Parliament, marks a consequential moment in the evolution of India’s energy policy. The Bill replaces a fragmented and dated legal architecture with a single comprehensive statute integrating safety regulation, licensing, enforcement, liability and dispute resolution. It grants statutory authority to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, strengthens lifecycle oversight of nuclear facilities and clarifies accountability at every stage of construction, operation and decommissioning.
The directional context for this reform was laid out clearly in the Union Budget for 2025–26. For the first time, nuclear energy was positioned explicitly as a core pillar of India’s energy transition. India’s installed nuclear capacity today stands at roughly eight gigawatts. The roadmap ahead is ambitious. By 2032, India aims to raise nuclear capacity to twenty two gigawatts. By 2047, the target is one hundred gigawatts. This nuclear ambition builds on the strides India has already made in renewable energy. Over the past decade, the country has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing markets for solar and wind power. Besides this, the National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to produce millions of tonnes of green hydrogen annually by the end of this decade.
However, the success of renewables also brings structural challenges. Solar and wind generation are inherently variable, dependent on weather, seasons and time of day. Storage technologies are advancing, but they still face limitations in providing long duration baseload supply at the scale required by a large and growing economy. Energy intensive industries, data centres, metro systems and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence require assured, uninterrupted electricity. Nuclear energy provides that assurance.
Nuclear power offers distinct advantages in this context. It emits negligible carbon during operation, occupies relatively little land and delivers continuous electricity with high capacity utilization. India’s nuclear expansion is being shaped around a new generation of indigenous technologies. At the heart of this phase are two reactor families. Bharat Small Reactors are based on proven two hundred and twenty megawatt Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor designs and are intended for deployment near energy intensive industrial zones. They will supply dedicated low carbon power to steel, aluminium, cement and other manufacturing sectors where emissions are hardest to abate. Complementing these are Bharat Small Modular Reactors, ranging from around thirty megawatts to over three hundred megawatts. These modular, factory built reactors allow faster construction, improved quality control and flexible deployment in remote regions and industrial hubs. Recognizing their strategic importance, the Modi government has earmarked twenty thousand crore rupees for research and development, with at least five indigenously designed units planned for deployment by 2033.
Policy reforms have been initiated to enable this technology shift, and to facilitate structured public private participation in the nuclear sector. The ASHVINI joint venture between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and NTPC exemplifies this approach, combining public sector expertise with expanded execution capacity within a tightly regulated framework.
Beyond these advances lies thorium based reactors, the most transformative element of India’s nuclear roadmap. India possesses one of the world’s largest thorium reserves, estimated at around one point zero seven million tonnes, concentrated along the coasts of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Thorium is approximately three times more abundant than uranium and produces significantly less long lived radioactive waste, carries lower proliferation risk and offers a virtually inexhaustible source of clean energy. The three stage nuclear program envisioned by Homi Bhabha placed thorium utilization at its core.
The SHANTI Bill provides the institutional foundation that makes this roadmap viable. By consolidating laws, empowering the regulator and embedding safety safeguards across all stages of nuclear activity, it aligns governance with ambition. It mandates explicit regulatory approvals for activities involving radiation exposure, strengthens preventive safety norms and clarifies liability and operator responsibility. While it enables wider participation, including international collaboration where appropriate, it preserves sovereign control in all the critical areas, including ensuring that segments with greatest safety implications are kept with government agencies.
As these programs unfold, India’s energy landscape is evolving into an integrated mosaic of solar, wind, hydrogen and nuclear systems, alongside a few non-renewable sources. They together form a resilient architecture capable of supporting sustained growth while meeting climate commitments. India is pursuing a diversified portfolio that enhances stability, resilience and energy independence. In doing so, it is not only aiming to secure its own energy security and sovereignty, but offering a credible model for other developing nations navigating the same transition.
Anil K Antony is national secretary and national spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party. The views expressed are personal
