Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the Annual Leaders' Summit at Government House, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on Thursday
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Australia has agreed to sell uranium to India for power generation in a landmark deal signed between the two nations during a visit to Melbourne by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.India will purchase uranium for “exclusively peaceful purposes,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.The agreement is the culmination of more than a decade of negotiations, including over safeguards to ensure the material can’t be used for nuclear weapons. The two countries signed an initial nuclear co-operation pact in 2014, soon after Modi became Prime Minister. A sample of Australian ore was examined at India’s Nuclear Fuel Complex in 2017, which found it needed more processing to make it similar to the grades it imported from other places, such as Russia and Canada.Revival of the deal signals India’s increasing thrust on nuclear energy, with a goal to expand generation capacity more than 10-fold to 100 gigawatts by 2047. Social and environmental challenges with expanding domestic uranium output necessitate imports.The country currently imports uranium from Russia and Uzbekistan, and shipments from Canada’s Cameco Corp. will start next year, according to a deal signed in March.While Australia holds the world’s biggest reserves of uranium there are only three operating mines, all in South Australia. Several other states ban uranium mining due to concerns the material could find its way into nuclear weapons. Still, the country is the world’s fourth-largest producer of the radioactive metal, according to government figures. Exports over the 2025-2026 financial year were worth A$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion).Australia’s largest producer of uranium oxide is BHP Group Ltd., from its Olympic Dam copper operations as a byproduct. Yellowcake from the remote mine is sent to customers mostly in France, Canada and the US, according to a company spokesperson. Spot prices of uranium have hovered around $85 a pound this year, though they briefly spiked to $94/lb in February, well above the $63/lb price it fetched in early 2025. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com©2026 Bloomberg L.P.Published on July 9, 2026
