SHANTI bill a positive policy signal for India's nuclear value chain: Antique 

Antique Stock Broking on Monday said the Union Cabinet approved the SHANTI bill (Sustainable Harnessing of Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India), is a positive long-term policy signal for India’s nuclear value chain, including developers, EPC players and component manufacturers. The brokerage said the Bill opened the sector to private participation and capped vendor liability, materially reducing risks and potentially reviving the stalled nuclear capital expenditure cycle, even though the impact was likely to be gradual.

Antique said while near-term economics remain unattractive, with nuclear tariffs at Rs 6 per kWh plus fuel compared with Rs 4 per kWh plus fuel for coal and Rs 3 per kWh plus charging power for BESS, this cost premium can be viewed as the price paid for long-term decarbonization, energy security, and reliable baseload power. 

Nuclear power currently accounts for 1.7 per cent of India's installed capacity, a share that has been trending down, with the CEA expecting only a marginal increase to about 2 per cent by FY30E. 

"However, the government's long term goal of reaching 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 suggests that nuclear could account for more than 5 per cent of the country's total installed capacity by then," Antique said.

Antique said the proposed framework allowed up to 49 per cent private equity participation and addressed liability concerns that had historically deterred investment. While passage of the Bill was expected only in a later parliamentary session, the brokerage believed rationalisation of liability norms could improve investment appetite across the nuclear ecosystem over time.

Strategically, Antique said the Bill aligned with India’s long-term decarbonisation and energy security objectives, signalling a gradual shift away from coal. However, it noted that near-term economics remained challenging. Nuclear tariffs were estimated at about Rs 6 per kWh plus fuel, compared with around Rs 4 per kWh plus fuel for coal and roughly Rs 3 per kWh plus charging power for battery energy storage systems. Antique said this cost premium could be viewed as the price paid for long-term decarbonisation, energy security and reliable baseload power, rather than near-term tariff competitiveness.

The brokerage pointed out that nuclear power currently accounted for about 1.7 per cent of India’s installed capacity, a share that had been trending lower, with the Central Electricity Authority expecting only a marginal rise to around 2 per cent by FY30E. However, the government’s longer-term ambition of achieving 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 implied that nuclear power could account for more than 5 per cent of total installed capacity over the long run.

Antique added that the Bill also carried strategic significance for India–US relations, as it sought to operationalise the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement signed nearly 17 years ago, which had seen limited progress due to liability and commercial constraints. By opening the sector to private participation and capping vendor liability, the brokerage said the SHANTI bill addressed key concerns that had kept global suppliers, including those from the US, on the sidelines.