December 15, 2025
Sougata Ray’s opposition to introduction of Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025
Sir, I oppose this Bill with a long name,‘Sustainable Harnessing, etc. etc.’ Now, this Bill is a watershed in the history of the development of nuclear power in the country. You know that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, set up the Atomic Energy Commission. The Atomic Energy Commission made a significant progress in harnessing atomic energy, with our first nuclear power plant in Tarapur. India undertook two nuclear explosions — implosions, whatever you call it. The first explosion was conducted at Pokhran in 1974, and, then, under Atal Bihar Vajpayee, the second explosion was conducted again at Pokhran in 1998. So, the nuclear energy has been a matter of importance to the people. … In 2004, during the Prime Ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh, there was a big dispute in the country over the introduction of the Nuclear Liability Bill. Dr. Manmohan Singh’s purpose was to
get the nuclear energy technical know-how from America and other countries. Now, this is a new step where slowly the nuclear energy sector is sought to be given over to the private sector. The Government has been talking about this for some time. Now, we have the Adani who is big in the power sector. Now, they want to give in to nuclear power sector and this Bill is aimed to facilitate Adani and other people. …
