Modi government mulling to open Nuclear sector to private companies
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Union government is working on opening India’s nuclear sector to private companies, describing the move as an important step towards strengthening the country’s energy security and technological growth.
Modi made the remarks while addressing, through video conference, the inauguration of Skyroot Aerospace’s new rocket manufacturing facility, the Infinity Campus. He said the scope of economic reforms is expanding, and drew a connection to earlier changes that allowed private participation in the space sector.
According to the prime minister, the nuclear sector will see similar opportunities. “A strong role for the private sector is being laid in this field, which will create opportunities in small modular reactors, advanced reactors, and nuclear innovation,” he said. Modi added that such participation would “give new strength to India’s energy security and technological leadership.”
India has set a long-term target of installing 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047 under the Viksit Bharat mission. At present, research and development in the nuclear sector is restricted, with no provision for joint ventures between public sector undertakings and private companies. The government now plans to widen this framework.
To enable greater private involvement, the Centre is preparing to introduce a Bill in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament to amend the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
