Decoding The Shanti Act: Navigating India's Nuclear Framework For Private Investors

For the past several decades, the nuclear energy regime in India has been predominantly State-dominated, with the private sector participating in a limited manner in EPC contracts and component supply under the supervision of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act, 2025 (the "SHANTI Act") represents a paradigm shift in India's nuclear energy policy by enabling structured private participation in ownership and operation in the nuclear energy sector.

This change in legislation aims to enable greater utilisation of nuclear energy as one of the energy resources to meet India's growing clean energy needs and strengthen its overall energy mix. The new policy aligns with India's Nuclear Energy Mission for Viksit Bharat, where India has set a target to achieve 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 to enable sustainable development in terms of baseload power for decarbonisation and to ensure