Ahead of Obama meeting, India notifies N-liability rules

The rules relating to Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act provides the nuclear plant operator the right to recourse for the period for which the supplier of equipment has taken liability for patent or latent defects or sub-standard services under a contract.
According to the rules, an operator’s claim will in no case exceed the actual amount of compensation paid by him up to the date of filing such claim.

The US has made it clear that India’s civil nuclear liability law will have to be harmonised with international conventions and the current regime imposed a heavy burden on the operators of nuclear plants in India.

On his way back from the Maldives, Manmohan Singh last week said that the government will place rules and procedures relating to the civil nuclear liability regime in the forthcoming winter session of parliament that begins Nov 22.

Manmohan Singh and Obama will meet on the margins of the 18-nation East Asia Summit in Bali Friday. They are expected to give a push to the their nuclear deal that has languished due to Washington's apprehensions about India's civil nuclear liability regime which American nuclear companies find onerous.

They will also discuss a wide spectrum of regional and international issues, Sanjay Singh, secretary (east) in the external affairs ministry told reporters here.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Obama came on a state visit to India in November last year.

Terrorism emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan will also figure in the discussions.
They will also discuss a cluster of international issues, including the festering Eurozone crisis, the East Asia regional architecture and climate change.