One of the major outcomes of the just-concluded visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to India was an agreement between the Department of Atomic Energy and a Canadian company for the long-term supply of uranium to power India’s nuclear reactors. Cameco, the Canadian company, will provide 22 million pounds (about 10,000 tonnes) of uranium, the main fuel in nuclear reactors, between 2027 and 2035. The contract is worth 2.6 billion Canadian dollars ($1.9 billion).Incidentally, this is India’s second major uranium supply deal within a month. Two weeks ago, it was revealed that India had finalised a similar agreement with Kazakhstan’s state-owned company Kazatomprom. The scale of that deal is not yet public.Both Cameco and Kazatomprom have supplied uranium to India in the past. The latest contracts for larger orders, spread over the next decade, are extremely critical for India’s plans to rapidly ramp up its nuclear power production by more than 10 times by 2047.Dependence on importsDespite the sizeable presence of uranium deposits, India remains dependent on imported uranium for its nuclear power plants. Domestic uranium deposits possess low-quality ore, about 0.02 to 0.45 per cent, compared to the global average of about 1 to 2 per cent.Some mines in Canada have ore grades that have as high concentrations of uranium as 15 per cent, according to information provided to a parliamentary panel by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), India’s state-owned miner of uranium. As a result, domestic uranium costs much more than imported fuel.CHARTPresently, more than 70 per cent of India’s uranium requirements are being met through imports. But the domestic production, despite being expensive, is also extremely important. It is essential to meet the requirements of India’s weapons programme, besides providing a cushion against supply disruptions of any nature.Domestic uranium production is also being ramped up in view of the planned expansion of the nuclear energy sector. The government aims to increase the installed capacity of nuclear energy from the current 9GW to 100 GW by 2047. However, even in the best-case scenario, domestic fuel is not viewed as catering to more than 30 per cent of the needs of nuclear power plants in the future.Story continues below this adIndia consumes about 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes of uranium every year. In 2025, India’s uranium requirement was 1,884 tonnes, according to the World Nuclear Association, a global industry organisation. According to estimates by the UCIL, the annual domestic uranium requirement in the coming years could rise to 5,400 tonnes, of which about 30 per cent could be produced domestically.Diversifying and expanding productionThe domestic production of uranium in India is concentrated mainly in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, where seven mines are operational. Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Telangana and a few other states also have some deposits. Current estimates point to about 4.3 lakh tonnes of uranium ore in Indian deposits, of which more than 80,000 tonnes are in the mines allocated to the UCIL. about 40 per cent of the reserves have already been extracted from these mines, according to UCIL. Explorations are being conducted in as many as 15 states in search of additional uranium deposits.The new uranium contracts, including the one signed with the Canadian company, are an attempt to diversify India’s supply lines, besides meeting the projected, enhanced requirements for nuclear fuel in the coming year. In Canada’s case specifically, it also marks a return to normalcy in a bilateral relationship that has been extremely troubled in recent times.The Canadian company Cameco had supplied uranium to India as recently as 2020-21. India and Canada have a very long relationship in the nuclear sector, dating back to the 1950s. India’s second nuclear reactor, CIRUS (Canada India Reactor Utility Service), was a collaborative venture with Canada. Canada also helped in setting up nuclear reactors at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPPs) in the 1960s.Story continues below this adWith this latest agreement with Cameco, India is now sourcing uranium from at least four countries – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Canada, and Russia, which has a lifetime supply commitment for the reactors being set up at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. More supply agreements, potentially in countries such as Australia or the United States, could also come through in the coming years. Additionally, Indian companies are studying the feasibility of exploring and mining uranium in other countries.Three-stage nuclear programmeIndia’s ultimate ambition is to complete its long-desired three-stage nuclear programme, driven chiefly by thorium, not uranium. India has very large reserves of thorium, making it a very attractive proposition in terms of energy security and energy independence. For that, however, India will need to develop special nuclear reactors based on technology that is proven, but not currently in use.The current operational nuclear reactors in India comprise only the first stage of the Indian programme. The first step towards the second stage has been taken with a prototype fast-breeder reactor, which is close to becoming operational, in Kalpakkam. The third stage of reactors, which will use thorium as the main fuel, is supposed to be some distance away.The three-stage programme was conceptualised as far back as the 1950s, and India is the only country currently pursuing this goal. But progress on that front has been extremely slow until now.