Global Security Newswire

The Indian government today submitted to lawmakers legislation that would impose limits on the amount of damages that foreign operators of nuclear plants in the South Asian nation could be required to pay in the event of an accident. The measure is required to implement the landmark U.S.-Indian civilian nuclear trade deal, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 16).

Payouts for those atomic firms would be capped at $110 million under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill.

Critics have said the measure would undermine the ability of victims in an atomic accident to attain adequate restitution for their suffering. Opposition lawmaker Yashwant Sinha called the legislation "illegal and unconstitutional." His party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, walked out of the Indian parliament to protest the bill.

Fierce opposition to the legislation led the ruling Congress party in March to delay submitting the bill for consideration, but the Indian government has since then grown more confident of its ability to push the measure through parliament.

The legislation is one of the final measures required for the 2008 nuclear trade agreement with the United States to be implemented. The deal would allow India's atomic industry access to U.S. nuclear materials and technology in exchange for the opening of Indian nonmilitary nuclear sites to international monitoring (see GSN, April 29; Agence France-Presse/Google News, May 7).