New Delhi — Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), said India’s recently enacted SHANTI Act has “opened the door” to a new phase of civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India. The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025, replaces the Atomic Energy Act of 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010, and for the first time legally paves the way for significant private-sector participation in India’s nuclear programme.
Korsnick made the remarks while leading an executive trade mission organized by NEI and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). She described the delegation as an opportunity for U.S. companies to engage directly with India’s clean-energy plans and to explore how private industry can integrate under the new legal framework.
The SHANTI Act addresses a long-standing bottleneck in commercial nuclear relations. Korsnick noted that the 2005 India–U.S. civil nuclear agreement was an important diplomatic milestone, but unresolved liability issues kept commercial progress stalled for roughly two decades. With those issues addressed, she said, the bilateral commercial relationship can now move forward.
Korsnick also stressed that nuclear technology has advanced significantly since 2005. Beyond traditional large reactors, today’s options include medium and small reactors, light-water designs and advanced reactor concepts such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and micro-reactors. This expanded technology set increases deployment flexibility for industry and governments.
She highlighted the strategic importance of nuclear expansion for global clean-energy goals and said U.S. vendors are eager to form multi-layered joint ventures with Indian firms — to build in India, invite investment into the United States, and potentially co-develop projects internationally. Korsnick framed the emerging commercial ties as a long-term strategic relationship with both economic and geopolitical benefits.
On regional security, she stressed the broader impact of India’s energy choices given its population size: adopting reliable, low-carbon baseload power strengthens regional resilience and reduces vulnerability to volatile fossil-fuel markets. “Nuclear brings energy security,” she said, noting that stable domestic power supply contributes to national security amid changing geopolitics.
Korsnick emphasized that discussions extend well beyond reactor procurement to the entire nuclear value chain: manufacturing, supply chains, fuel, workforce development, technical research and regulatory systems. She argued that public–private collaboration will be essential to scale India’s nuclear programme effectively, mirroring the U.S. model of private-sector involvement alongside government oversight.
The NEI delegation met Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, who reiterated that India and the U.S. share a forward-looking partnership. Singh pointed to the US–India TRUST Initiative, which focuses on trusted technology partnerships, resilient supply chains and joint innovation, as a platform for deeper cooperation in critical technologies relevant to nuclear energy.
Singh outlined India’s ambition to grow nuclear capacity from about 8.8 GW today to 100 GW by 2047 under the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. To support that expansion, the government is finalizing the SHANTI Act implementation framework and has allocated nearly Rs 20,000 crore toward SMR development. He also highlighted collaboration opportunities in areas such as AI-enabled safety systems, scientific computing, nuclear modelling and hydrogen production.
Ongoing and proposed cooperation discussed during the visit includes the Westinghouse AP1000 proposal at Kovvada, activities under the Indo–U.S. Civil Nuclear Energy Working Group (CNEWG), integrated energy systems and other industry-led projects.
The meetings concluded with a shared commitment to deepen practical, industry-driven partnerships in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, supply-chain integration and research. Senior Indian officials, including Rajesh S. Gokhale of the Department of Science & Technology, officials from the Department of Atomic Energy, and representatives of U.S. industry organizations participated in the discussions.
