India has announced the cessation of a “Civil Nuclear Deal” for buying uranium from Australia after a bilateral meeting held between PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey.
- With the conclusion of N-deal, India has become the first country to buy Australian yellow cake without being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
- Australia has about 40% of the world’s uranium reserves and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of uranium annually.
About N-deal agreement
The nuclear cooperation agreement between India and Australia was signed in September 2014 after the two nations agreed on a safeguards pact to sell uranium for peaceful power generation.
- Both Nations began talks on the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in 2012 after Australia lifted a ban on selling uranium to energy-starved India.
- The trade stands at a $15 billion a year as compared with $150 billion Australia’s trade with China.
India’s nuclear energy contribution
India has nuclear energy contribution of just 3% of its electricity generation. It is plans to increase its nuclear capacity to 63,000 MW by 2032 by adding 30 reactors at an estimated cost of $85 billion.
- Currently India has nuclear energy agreements with 11 countries and imports uranium from France, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Keys
Australia Capital – Canberra
Australia Currency – Australian dollar
