India plans to establish a nuclear liability fund to cover accident compensation exceeding Rs 15 billion ($169 million) owed by plant operators, government sources said. The move aims to ease risk concerns for global suppliers and private firms, potentially unlocking stalled foreign and domestic investment in the nuclear sector.

The statutory fund, proposed under a new atomic energy bill, would supplement an operator’s capped liability, replacing the current ad hoc payout system. “The fund seeks to bolster the government’s ability to compensate victims in the event of an accident,” said one source.

India plans to expand its nuclear capacity twelve-fold by 2047 and is relaxing rules to end the decades-old state monopoly and stringent liability provisions, enabling private participation and attracting foreign technology suppliers. Major conglomerates, including Tata Power, Adani Power, and Reliance Industries, are preparing investment plans.

The legislation, expected to be introduced in parliament’s winter session in December, aims to attract private firms to nuclear power generation and uranium mining, with foreign players taking minority stakes in plants. It also seeks to remove provisions exposing suppliers to unlimited liability, providing a legal mechanism for compensation beyond the operator’s cap.

Currently, India relies on a nuclear insurance pool launched in 2015, which was not embedded in law and has not fully alleviated foreign firms’ caution. Once passed, the new bill will replace the Atomic Energy Act of 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010.