
Australia and India seal uranium export agreement
- Australia and India completed an operational arrangement to allow Australian uranium exports to India for civilian nuclear energy generation.
- The arrangement opens an additional market for the Australian resources sector while supporting India's domestic clean energy objectives.
- The agreement is driven by India's target to reach 100 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by 2047 and Australia's strategy to diversify its trade partnerships.
Australia and India executed an operational arrangement on July 9 to enable the export of Australian uranium to India for use in its civil nuclear energy industry.
The bilateral agreement establishes safeguards to ensure the nuclear fuel is used solely for peaceful purposes, bypassing historical concerns that restricted trade under a previous 2014 nuclear cooperation framework.
“The arrangement facilitates Australian uranium exports to India to help increase the share of non-fossil fuel power capacity, providing an additional market for the Australian resources sector,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The two nations did not disclose the initial volumes, financial value, or delivery timelines for the upcoming resource shipments.
Following the announcement, AustralianSuper disclosed a separate capital deployment of $500 million into India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.
The nuclear fuel arrangement aligns with India's long-term plan to develop 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047.
The corporate and diplomatic actions come as Australia seeks to reduce its economic reliance on China by expanding supply chains with alternative major trading partners in the Indo-Pacific region.