India Sets Draft Rules to Open Nuclear Power to Private Firms
(Bloomberg) -- India moved a step closer to opening its nuclear power sector to private investment, with the Department of Atomic Energy issuing draft rules to implement legislation that ends decades of state dominance of the industry.
The rules, issued late Friday, come eight months after the Indian Parliament overhauled the country’s nuclear laws to attract private firms and investment to a sector it sees as crucial to meeting its net zero goal by 2070. Known as the SHANTI Act, the legislation ended the state’s monopoly over nuclear power generation and made sweeping changes to the country’s liability provisions that had spooked investors.
In his Independence Day speech Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India aims to start five nuclear reactors within six to seven years.
The draft rules set out a framework for private companies to build, own, operate and decommission nuclear plants, covering licensing, safety and security oversight, waste management and spent-fuel storage.
For reactors of foreign design, the technology must have been certified or approved by the regulator in its country of origin and already be operational there or in another foreign country.
Companies that have yet to select a site or technology may receive in-principle approval once their application is admitted. That would allow them to negotiate with reactor vendors and acquire land and other infrastructure before securing a formal license.
The government has sought public feedback on the draft rules and regulations by Sept. 4.
Modi’s government has set an ambitious goal of expanding nuclear power capacity eleven-fold to 100 gigawatts by 2047. India’s push for nuclear echoes a global shift. Nations are shaking off their fears induced by the Fukushima meltdown in 2011 as they strive to meet growing demand from artificial intelligence systems and data centers.
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