The stakeholder consultation was chaired by Prof.
Abhay Karandikar (Member, NITI Aayog). Other prominent dignitaries included Sh.
Pankaj Agrawal (Secretary, MoP), Sh. Ghanshyam Prasad (Chairperson, CEA), Sh.
Gurdeep Singh (CMD, NTPC Ltd.), Dr. Anshu Bharadwaj (Programme Director, NITI
Aayog), Sh. Rajnath Ram (Adviser, NITI Aayog), Dr. Garima Sharma (Head, SSSD,
DAE) and Sh. Hari Kumar (Distinguished Scientist and Director, AERB).
The technical discussions were structured around three
critical pillars vital to the Act’s successful rollout: Legislative
& Regulatory Framework: Deliberations focused on the SHANTI Act’s draft
rules, regulations and related FDI policy provisions, with the opening
technical segment presenting the statutory compliance mechanisms under SHANTI
Act, 2025 and highlighting how foreign capital can be attracted while
safeguarding domestic interests; Finance, Insurance & Public Perception: Stakeholders
examined the financial mechanisms and risk-mitigation frameworks needed to
support the Act’s implementation. The discussion also covered suitable
insurance arrangements for long-term projects, along with strategies to
strengthen public awareness, community trust and broader acceptance of nuclear
energy projects and manufacturing, Operations & Capacity Building: The
focus was on the operationalization phase, with emphasis on strengthening
domestic manufacturing capabilities, ensuring operational readiness and
building a skilled workforce to sustain the ecosystem. Stakeholders also
discussed enhancing supply chain resilience and designing dedicated
capacity-building programmes to support industrial scaling and develop a highly
competent human resource base.
Stakeholders provided a range of views across all
three critical areas, which will be useful in strengthening the implementation
framework of the SHANTI Act, 2025.