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India has signed a long-term uranium supply agreement with Australia, operationalising the India–Australia Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signed in 2014. The agreement follows similar uranium supply deals with Canada and Kazakhstan, strengthening India's long-term nuclear fuel security.

Key Highlights

India aims to expand its civil nuclear power capacity to 100 GWe by 2047, making assured uranium supply crucial for future reactor operations.

The agreement forms part of India's strategy to diversify uranium imports and reduce dependence on a limited number of suppliers. The quantity of uranium and duration of the agreement have not been disclosed.

India's Uranium Scenario

• India possesses around 4.3 lakh tonnes of uranium oxide reserves distributed across 47 deposits in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Meghalaya.
• The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) is responsible for uranium mining and processing, with major operational mines at Jaduguda, Turamdih (Jharkhand) and Tummalapalle (Andhra Pradesh).
• Despite these reserves, domestic production currently meets the fuel requirement of only about 2.4 GWe of India's existing 8.7 GWe nuclear power capacity, making imports essential.

India's Nuclear Fuel Requirements

• India's Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) operate on natural uranium, obtained through domestic production and imports.
• However, Light Water Reactors (LWRs) such as Tarapur and Kudankulam require enriched uranium, which is entirely imported.
• According to a Ministry of Power committee, India will require an additional 8,029 tonnes of natural uranium and 1,045 tonnes of enriched uranium annually by 2047 to achieve its nuclear capacity target.

NSG Waiver

• India's civil nuclear trade became possible after the 2008 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver, which allowed nuclear commerce with India despite it being a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• Between 2008–09 and 2024–25, India imported 18,842.6 metric tonnes of uranium for reactors under IAEA safeguards.

Major Uranium Suppliers

• India currently imports uranium from: Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, France, and United States