New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Modi government over the passage of the SHANTI Bill, alleging that it was “bulldozed” through 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 to enter the nuclear energy sector after private firms were given the go-ahead to participate.
Parliament on Thursday cleared the nuclear energy legislation, with the Rajya Sabha approving the Bill that seeks to open the tightly regulated civil nuclear sector to 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 said.
The Congress further alleged that the SHANTI Bill was pushed through Parliament to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi restore “SHANTI” with his “once good friend”.
Ramesh said the SHANTI Bill removes key provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, an issue that had been flagged in the United States’ National Defence Authorisation Act for 2026.
Referring to United States President Donald Trump signing the National Defence Authorisation Act for the US fiscal year 2026, Ramesh 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,” he said, adding that it was done to restore “SHANTI with his once good friend”. Ramesh also attached a copy of the US Act to his post.
The Congress leader claimed that the SHANTI Act could well be called the TRUMP Act — The Reactor Use and Management Promise Act.
Speaking during the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Ramesh urged the government not to promote the private sector at the cost of public sector undertakings in building nuclear power infrastructure. He also called for encouraging available indigenous technology to enhance the country’s energy capacity.
He argued that private firms cannot become the growth engine of the nuclear sector as they cannot be placed above 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, rejecting several amendments moved by opposition members seeking to refer the legislation to a parliamentary committee. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Replying to the discussion, Minister of State for Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh said the legislation aims to make India self-reliant in nuclear energy and reduce dependence on other sources of power.
With PTI inputs