Kazakhstan Looks To Increase Uranium Exports To India To 7,500 Tonnes; Bolster Defence, Space Cooperation

The world’s leading producer of uranium, Kazakhstan, is in talks with India to substantially increase its supply of the vital metal to the latter, reports Hindustan Times.

The country plans to supply more than 7,500 tonnes of uranium to India in the next five years, up from 5,000 tonnes in 2015-19, according to Kazakh Ambassador to India, Bulat Sarsenbayev.

“We have had discussions with Indian counterparts in this area...I had meetings with the (Indian) atomic energy company (and) things are moving positively. It will take some time and we have time to discuss the agreement,” Sarsenbayev stated.

The Central Asian country holds the world’s second largest deposits of uranium, which is roughly 15 per cent of the earth’s recoverable supply.

The previous contract for 5,000 tonnes was signed between the two countries in 2015 under the Modi government and is set to expire this year. Before that, the two had countries had a contract for 3,000 tonnes signed in 2009.

Kazakhstan and India are also looking to cooperate in other areas such as space and military. The former is interested in developing satellites for weather monitoring purposes.