Uranium all the way from Australia; Big boost to India's nuclear power ambitions

NEW DELHI: Australia will provide uranium to India for peaceful purposes. The long-term agreement was signed in Melbourne in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese.

The agreement was announced at the third India-Australia annual summit attended by both leaders. According to the 2015 Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, uranium can only be transferred for peaceful purposes.

India currently imports from Kazakhstan, France, Russia and Canada. Uranium is being mined in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of the Uranium Corporation of India, but it is very limited.

Australia has 28-33% of the world's uranium reserves. However, since it does not have nuclear power plants or nuclear weapons, the country exports all of its. Interestingly, Australia had once decided not to provide uranium to India after the second nuclear test in 1998. This stance was changed in 2015, which led to cooperation.

The plan to increase the power generation in nuclear plants from 8.78 GW to 100 GW by 2047 will also be a boon. Currently, only 3% of electricity comes from nuclear power. Most of the electricity comes from coal. India is moving towards nuclear power to achieve the goal of becoming carbon-free by 2070.

Cooperation in:

• Commercial partnership in coal, diesel and natural gas will continue

• Cooperation in Indo-Pacific security, in addition to the Quad grouping of the US, Japan, India and Australia

• Defence startups will be connected through the India-Australia Defence Innovation Corridor

• Cooperation and training between the armed forces. Cyber ​​and high-tech transactions

• 11th-century Indian artefacts taken from Tamil Nadu will be returned

• Victoria University campus will start in Gurugram