India and Canada signed nuclear agreement on supply of Uranium

India and Canada on 15 April 2015 signed a nuclear agreement on supply of uranium to India. The agreement was signed between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

PM Modi is on a three-day official visit to Canada, which is the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 42 years.

What is the agreement?

As part of the agreement, Canadian Cameco Corporation will supply 7.1 million pounds of uranium concentrate to India till 2020. The deal is worth 350 million US dollars. The uranium will be sourced from Cameco’s operations in northern Saskatchewan.

Cameco Corporation, the World's largest uranium producer, will make first deliveries in late 2015 and the pricing will be based on the market price for uranium, which is published price at the time of delivery.

Why it is of importance to India?

The uranium agreement is part of deal that took effect in 2013 and it is of great importance to India strategically and economically.

At present, India is the fourth largest consumer of energy in the world and it uses nuclear power for three percent of its electricity. However, under the planned Energy Revolution, India hopes to increase that number to 25 percent by 2050.

Besides, the uranium agreement signifies a new era of bilateral co-operation between India and Canada which turned frosty after India first conducted the test of nuclear bomb in 1970s leading to Canada banning exports of uranium and nuclear hardware to India.

Further, it reflects a new level of mutual trust and confidence between the two countries.