India’s Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with Australia got the Union Cabinet’s approval on Wednesday. The agreement had already come into force on November 13, 2015 along with the administrative agreement for its implementation. The administrative agreement makes it possible for uranium exports to go ahead, however, the commercial agreements are yet to be signed.
The agreements coming in force were announced on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Turkey by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, in November this year.
Both sides signed a memorandum of understanding in September last year when former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was visiting India.
“The fuel supply arrangements with Australia will bolster energy security by supporting the expansion of nuclear power in India,” an official statement said.
Currently, India sources uranium from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia. It has a total requirement of around 1,000 tonne of a year. Australia has around 31 per cent of the world’s uranium reserves.
It also has some of the cheapest reserves. Earlier in the year, India also signed a contract with Canada for the long-term supply of uranium.
In 2015, India has successfully reached an agreement with several countries in the field of civil nuclear power.
In December, during the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan, a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement was signed.
The agreement with US was put back on track earlier this year after the India Nuclear Insurance Pool was set up.
Further, a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia and France has also been taken forward during the year.