A parliamentary panel today proposed to triple the liability cap in case of a nuclear accident to 1,500 crore rupees and also sought to make suppliers of atomic equipment accountable if it is found defective. Talking to Reporters after the report was tabled in the two houses of Parliament Chief of the 31-member parliamentary standing committee on science and technology T Subbrami Reddy told reporters that the panel recommended while the government may increase the compensation cap, it should not decrease it under any circumstances. It also recommended doubling the period for victims' claims to 20 years. The committee has also suggested expanding the definition of nuclear damage by including the immediate and long-term health impact on a person and loss of life and personal injury, as also including the word environment as defined by the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. He said that the panel also recommended the inclusion of a clause specifying suppliers' liability. Agreeing that the expression willful act or gross negligence in the draft bill was quite vague, he said that the panel qualified that nuclear incident resulted as a consequence of latent or patent defect, supply of sub-standard material, defective equipment or services.The panel's report makes it clear that the operator should have a written contract with the suppliers providing for the right of recourse and says that an operator must compensate victims first and then settle liability with the supplier. The bill also provides for the appointment of a Claims Commissioner and a Nuclear Damage Claims Commission to dispose off claims within three months. Stressing that the the bill was needed to boost power production in India, he said the Left members had given a note of dissent but all other members backed the panel's recommendations.