Australia-India civil nuclear deal concluded, supply to start soon

New Delhi: Australia said on Wednesday, as it has concluded the nuclear agreement with India, the supply of uranium will begin in a short period of time. Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu said that concluding contracts and supply can take some time but active engagement is underway on supplying uranium to India. “I am hopeful that we will see contracts concluded and supply start in a relatively short span of time,” she said at a ICRIER seminar on trade liberalisation in New Delhi. The Australia-India nuclear cooperation agreement permits Australian companies to commence commercial uranium exports to India. [caption id=“attachment_2811456” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) with his PM Modi during the signing of agreements ceremony in New Delhi. File Photo. Reuters[/caption] Australia has about 40 per cent of the world’s uranium reserves and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of yellow cake annually. India and Australia began talks on the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in 2012 after it lifted a long-standing ban on selling uranium to energy-starved India. India, which has nuclear energy contributing just 3 per cent of its electricity generation, will be the first country to buy Australian uranium without being a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. When asked Australia’s stand on India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), she said that her government is “very very supportive” of India’s entry into NSG. “We very much want to see India enter, engage and to make the contribution in the group,” she added. India has been eyeing to get entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group