Nuclear liability bill: US looks to 'changes'; BJP cries foul

NEW DELHI: Even before the collective sigh of relief in the government over safe passage to the nuclear liability bill in Parliament could end, the US on Tuesday queered the pitch yet again by stating that it was already looking at "changes'' in the bill. While the Opposition was quick to cry foul, leaving the government incommunicado going by the fact that there was no official reaction till late on Wednesday evening, it is interesting that the statement by the US state department spokesperson, P J Crowley, came wrapped with concerns raised earlier by "Indian business leaders''.

"We continue our discussions with the Indian government on this issue and we note that Indian business leaders are concerned about some specific aspects of the law that was just passed by Parliament,'' said Crowley.

"We will look to the Indian government to see what changes can be made,'' he added.

The industry body, FICCI, had earlier called for a "pragmatic approach'' in implementing the bill to ensure that the Indian manufacturing industry had a commercially viable option of participating in the capacity addition programme in the nuclear sector.

The industry in the US too seems to have been taken aback by the Civil Liability for the Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010, the way it was passed by Parliament. The bill in the present form makes suppliers of raw materials and equipment potentially liable for damages till 80 years after the construction of a nuclear plant. Observers believe that this is incompatible with international standards.

Reacting to the statement by Crowley, the BJP on Wednesday said it will not support any clandestine "changes" in the nuclear liability bill. "It is a law passed by Parliament...Parliament is supreme. The government cannot suddenly change anything surreptitiously without coming before Parliament,'' BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar told reporters.

He said BJP's fight with the government was over the word "and'' apart from the intent clause which, he said, the government changed after BJP pursued the matter.

The US India Business Council, representing 300 top US companies doing business with India, wanted India to adopt a nuclear liability regime "channelling absolute and exclusive liability to nuclear power plant operators and establishing a sole remedy for compensation of claims''.

Providing an insight into how the Americans look at the bill, Ashley Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and who was closely involved in negotiating the nuclear deal, expressed the fear that the legislation would be "a significant deterrent not only to US business but, equally importantly, to Indian and other international private business as well''.