RAS question
Which of the following is a key provision of the SHANTI Act 2025?
Correct answer: (B) It permits Independent Power Producers to build and operate nuclear power plants.
The SHANTI Act permits private sector participants, including qualified power producers, to build, own and operate nuclear power plants under Central Government licensing and safety authorisation.
Explanation
The key provision is not a ban or a state-only model; it is a controlled opening of nuclear energy infrastructure to private participation. The SHANTI Act permits Independent Power Producers and other qualified private entities to build, own, operate and decommission nuclear power plants. Press Information Bureau states that the Act allows private sector participation for setting up nuclear facilities or carrying out activities linked to the production, use and disposal of nuclear energy, subject to a Central Government licence and safety authorisation by the regulatory Board. Private participants can build, own and operate nuclear power plants, while safety, waste management, compensation and decommissioning responsibilities remain attached to such participation.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Act does the opposite of banning private participation: Press Information Bureau says private sector entities may participate in setting up nuclear facilities under licence and safety authorisation.
- (C) Limiting nuclear generation to government entities contradicts the stated provision allowing private participants to build, own and operate nuclear power plants.
- (D) The Act provides for regulated private participation and decommissioning responsibility, not a phase-out of all nuclear power plants by 2040.
Concept
This tests infrastructure reform in the energy sector, especially how India is trying to expand nuclear capacity while retaining regulatory control. RAS often asks such provisions because they connect economy, science policy and governance safeguards in one current-affairs theme.