India’s long-standing dream of a robust civil nuclear power programme may finally be approaching a decisive pivot. By proposing amendments to its nuclear liability law ~ particularly capping the compensation suppliers must pay in case of an accident ~ the government is clearly hoping to break a logjam that has kept American nuclear technology firms at bay for over a decade.

This is a strategic and necessary move, but it must be approached with both caution and foresight. The current Civil Nuclear Liability Damage Act, enacted in 2010, emerged from the long shadow cast by the Bhopal gas tragedy. It was a conscious assertion of India’s moral obligation to protect its citizens, placing heavy legal responsibility on suppliers of nuclear equipment.

Advertisement

But in doing so, it inadvertently pushed away potential foreign partners who saw the absence of a liability cap as a commercial risk too great to bear. By aligning the law more........

© The Statesman