SHANTI Bill to position nuclear power as backbone for data centres, 24x7 electricity: Piyush Goyal

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Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday said the proposed SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing of Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) Bill will enable nuclear energy to play a central role in powering data centres and ensuring round-the-clock electricity supply, as India builds a cleaner and more reliable energy system alongside renewables.

Addressing a press briefing, Goyal said the SHANTI Bill will facilitate the expansion of small modular reactors (SMRs) and open the nuclear sector to public-private partnerships, helping scale up clean base-load power.

“Nuclear energy is a unique clean energy source. Solar and wind are important, but they have intermittency. Nuclear provides stable power. Renewables and nuclear together will help India achieve 24x7 power supply,” Goyal said, adding that SMRs could play a major role in powering data centres and other energy-intensive digital infrastructure.

The Union Cabinet on December 12 approved the Atomic Energy Bill, 2025—also referred to as the SHANTI Bill—which will be introduced in Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session. The legislation seeks to amend the existing framework governing the nuclear sector, including enabling private sector participation and addressing issues that have constrained capacity expansion in the past, according to officials.

Goyal said the country has moved from a phase of acute coal shortages to surplus availability, with improved coal quality and higher domestic production. India crossed one billion tonnes of coal production last year, while coal imports have declined by around 8 percent on a standalone basis, he said.

He said renewable energy capacity has expanded sharply, with solar power growing nearly 46 times—from about 2 GW in 2014 to over 100 GW now—while wind power capacity has increased 2.5 times over the same period. At least 50 percent of India's installed power capacity now is non-fossil fuel based, he said.

The minister said India has also emerged as the world’s fourth-largest petroleum refining hub, with another 20 percent refining capacity addition under implementation. Access to clean cooking fuel has expanded significantly, with almost all households now covered under LPG connections.

On gas infrastructure, Goyal said the national natural gas pipeline network has expanded rapidly, covering most metro cities and enabling wider use of cleaner fuel across urban and industrial centres.

He also pointed to improvements in power availability, saying the country’s power deficit has narrowed sharply from over 4 percent a decade ago to near-zero levels, supported by a strengthened national grid.

"Reforms under the PM-UDAY scheme have strengthened the power distribution sector. Dues of discoms have reduced from Rs 1.4 lakh crore in 2022 to Rs 6,500 crore in 2025," Goyal said.