Nuclear liability bill: Govt offers dialogue to Opposition

Under attack from the entire Opposition over the nuclear liability bill, government on Wednesday offered them dialogue saying all issues, including raising the compensation amount, could be "discussed coolly".

Under attack from the entire Opposition over the nuclear liability bill, government on Wednesday offered them dialogue saying all issues, including raising the compensation amount, could be "discussed coolly".

At the same time, Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the government had no plans to open up the nuclear sector for foreign investment.

"I think there is a lot of scare being created by certain political parties, particularly by our Left friends. The
moment the issue of any likely foreign participation comes up there is a red flag.

"I think these issues could be coolly discussed either in Parliament or in standing committee or we are willing to discuss it in personal meeting," Chavan said at a conference organised by Assocham.

However, if the opposition is political it was a different matter, he said, adding "then we have to take it further".

On demands for increasing the compensation amount by the operator, Chavan said all these issues can be discussed at
various fora or even personal meetings. "Let us begin somewhere and not be obstructionist," he said.

He said there was no question of American companies setting up nuclear reactors in India as the law does not permit the same.

"There is no policy to allow FDI in the nuclear sector," Chavan said, adding that words like investments and procurements were being used very loosely in the debate on the liability bill.

He said the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1962 does not allow any private operator to produce nuclear energy and the government has "no intention right now" of amending the law to seek foreign investment.

The government was considering amendments to the AEA to make regulatory bodies autonomous and also to make it compliant with certain international conventions, he said.

Chavan made it clear that state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited would be buying equipment from suppliers in America, Russia and France and there was no question of seeking any investments from them.

"It is purely a buyer-supplier relationship. We are not seeking investments," he said. Chavan said issues like increasing compensation for private players could be looked at when the government decides to allow private participation in the nuclear sector.