India passes civil nuclear liability bill

NEW DELHI, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- India passed a civilian nuclear liability bill Wednesday that paves the way for U.S. firms and other foreign companies to gain a foothold in India's nuclear energy market, which could exceed $150 billion in coming years.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the legislation marks the end of India's isolation in the global nuclear market.

"I categorically state that this bill completes in a way our journey to end the nuclear apartheid which the world had imposed on India," he said Wednesday.

India's civil nuclear market opened up in 2008, when a landmark agreement between India and the United States ended three decades of sanctions imposed on New Delhi for conducting nuclear tests.

But nuclear suppliers -- particularly American companies, that aren't state-subsidized like French and Russian competitors -- were reluctant to enter the Indian market without clarity on their liability in the event of a nuclear accident.

General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Corp. are seen as potential big players in India's nuclear power sector.

However, the prime minister rejected claims that the bill was meant to facilitate the entry of American companies in India and that the government pushed to pass the bill before an expected visit by U.S. President Barack Obama in November.

"To say this has been done to promote American interests, to help American corporations I think is far from being the truth," Singh said.

The bill caps liability per accident at $320 million, compared to $106 million initially proposed.

The nuclear liability debate had intensified amid the June court decision that amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist to Indian executives working for Union Carbide at the time of the Bhopal chemical leak in 1984, the world's deadliest industrial accident in which an estimated 10,000 people died within the first three days.

After suing Union Carbide for $3.3 billion in 1985, the Indian government reached an out-of-court settlement of $470 million with the company in 1989.

Singh said the government was doing "everything" to ensure safety of nuclear plants, Press Trust of India reports.

Last September, India announced it aims to boost its nuclear energy capacity by 12,000 percent by 2050.

The country plans to have 12 new nuclear reactors running by 2020.

"We're very pleased it passed," said Chandajit Bannerjee, general secretary of the Confederation of Indian Industries of the legislation, the Los Angeles Times reports. "It's going to be one of the most important events in the development and growth (of India). This country needs power."