Nuclear liability bill win-win for US, India: Envoy

Lucknow, March 17 : US Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer Wednesday said the civil nuclear liability bill would benefit both the US and India.

"The passing of the bill by Indian parliament would mean a win-win situation for both the countries, generating employment as well as giving India abundant clean energy," Roemer told reporters at the end of his two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh.

"I am sure it is a very good story for both the countries," he said.

Skirting a query about the apparent pressure being mounted by US on India to get the bill passed in parliament, Roemer remarked, "I am hopeful that the bill would be able to meet the August 2010 deadline."

The bill seeks to provide legal framework for payment of a compensation in the event of an accident at a nuclear installation.

The bill, which was to be tabled in parliament Friday, was deferred after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, a partner in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), joined the opposition parties against it.

However, the US envoy sought to point out that "it was because of the benefits accruing from it that different political leaders had stood in support of the bill".

"It was not only Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but even former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who has supported the provisions of the bill. Likewise back in the US, not only President Barrack Obama but even former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were in favour of the bill."