bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Biman Mukherji

India wants 100 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by mid-century. It currently has roughly 8GW.
Getting there will require not just capital, technology and political will, but a reliable fuel supply that domestic production alone cannot provide.
The 10-year uranium agreement signed on Monday when Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi is designed to address exactly that constraint.
Analysts say it is a structural commitment – one intended to meet the fuel demands of a civilian nuclear programme that parliament only recently threw open to private and foreign investment.

Domestic production is expected to fall well short of projected needs, making long-term import arrangements essential.
“Our view is that domestic uranium production is likely to be well below total demand, implying continued and growing reliance on imports to fuel both existing and future reactors,” said Halvor Nymoen Winberg, a renewables and power research analyst at Rystad Energy.
“Against that demand gap, a long-dated Canada-India supply agreement would be strategically important.”
Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer, has been India’s primary supplier in recent years.

Nuclear goes private
India’s parliament approved an overhaul of the country’s civilian nuclear energy framework in December, allowing domestic and foreign companies to build, own and operate nuclear power plants for the first time – dismantling a state monopoly.
The reform removed long-standing supplier liability concerns and established a more predictable regulatory environment, clearing the way for the foreign technology partners and private capital that India’s expansion will require.
Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative, said the new framework had improved the investment environment for advanced reactors and small modular reactor projects.
“In this evolving landscape, long-term uranium supply contracts from reliable partners such as Canada become critical to reassure investors, enable private participation and ensure fuel security for a larger fleet of reactors,” he said.

Winberg drew a parallel with the United States, where efforts to simplify nuclear regulation and strengthen supply chain resilience have been central to accelerating project delivery and improving investability.
“When it comes to financing and construction of new nuclear power, one of the most important factors for private capital is exactly that: confidence that the project can be executed within a clearer, more predictable framework and supported by a robust supply chain,” he said.
India’s demand for natural uranium to power civilian reactors is projected to triple, driven by a construction pipeline stretching to at least 2035.
Nuclear power currently accounts for roughly 3 per cent of the country’s energy mix: the fifth-largest source after coal, hydropower, solar and wind. Delhi is determined to grow that share.

Rystad’s Winberg is a little sceptical of the 100GW headline target, forecasting closer to 60GW by 2047.
“We do expect the Indian nuclear [power plant] fleet to grow materially,” he said, adding that the 100GW capacity goal was likely designed more to drive investment.
China, by comparison, aims to raise its installed capacity to 200GW by 2040.
India’s target may be ambitious, but Canada is well placed to deliver. A string of new mining projects already in development means the country’s uranium output is set to grow well into the future, giving Delhi confidence that today’s agreement will still be delivering fuel long after the ink has dried, according to Winberg.
Modi hailed Monday’s agreement as a “landmark deal” and said the two countries would work together on small modular reactors, advanced reactors and “the nuclear value chain”. Carney said Canada had the capability to contribute to India’s nuclear energy needs and confirmed the two sides were launching a strategic energy partnership.


Relations reset
India-Canada relations were in need of a reset, having taken a nosedive under former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who alleged that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in 2023 – an accusation India has consistently denied.
Carney’s visit represents a deliberate effort by his government to move past that rupture and reframe the bilateral relationship around shared economic interests.
Canada is currently reckoning with the costs of having built its economic model around unfettered access to the US market. Amid Washington’s punitive tariffs, India – the world’s most populous country, with a newly liberalised nuclear sector and energy needs that will only grow – represents a rare opportunity to plant a long-term commercial stake in a market that will matter far more in 2040 than it does today.
As well as uranium, the two sides signed pacts covering critical minerals, technology, education and defence, and agreed to terms of reference for a comprehensive economic partnership, with Delhi targeting bilateral trade of around US$50 billion by 2030.
Today, we have taken steps to build a resilient supply chain
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
A memorandum of understanding on clean energy cooperation – spanning solar, wind and energy storage – rounded out the agreements.
“Today, we have taken steps to build a resilient supply chain in critical minerals,” Modi said on Monday.
India’s nuclear push comes as power grids the world over strain to balance soaring energy demands with intermittent renewable sources and the transition away from fossil fuels.

Nuclear’s ability to provide consistent baseload power – the minimum level of electricity a grid needs at all times – has made it politically attractive again across the ideological spectrum.
Even by that standard, Delhi’s target is ambitious. But the institutional and supply chain architecture being assembled around Monday’s agreements suggests the country is building for the long term.


India’s 100GW nuclear push was missing one thing. Canada just provided it

El Nino may return in 2026, making the planet even hotter

Asia’s oil dependence leaves it exposed after US-Israel strikes on Iran: Morgan Stanley

Millions of Asian migrant workers in Gulf in danger as war with Iran rages on

India

An Indian man cycles along a dirt road next to the Norora Atomic Power Station in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Photo: AFP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: EPA

A uranium mine in India’s Jharkhand state operated by the state-owned Uranium Corporation of India. Photo: AFP

Steam rises from the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. The US is currently the world’s largest producer of nuclear energy. Photo: AFP

Solar panels and wind turbines are seen at a renewable energy plant in Khavda, India’s Gujarat state. Photo: AFP

Tarapur Atomic Power Station in India’s Maharashtra state. Photo: Nuclear Power of India Limited/AFP

India’s AI superpower dream lands US$200 billion – now comes the hard part

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses with global tech leaders at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19. Photo: India’s Press Information Bureau/Reuters

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) poses with global tech leaders including Google’s Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19. Photo: India’s Press Information Bureau/Reuters

Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, on February 20. Photo: AP

Visitors use their mobile phones to take pictures of a Jio humanoid robot named Elixis at one of the venues for the summit in Delhi on February 17. Photo: Reuters

Visitors walk past a banner featuring India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they arrive to attend the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. Photo: AFP

Visitors look at an AI-powered medical diagnostic robot of Indian tech giant Wipro at the summit. Photo: AFP

Visitors look at Indian company Aeroarc’s AI powered robotic spider gun, displayed at the summit. Photo: AFP

Iran conflict puts India’s cherished Middle East neutrality to the test

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during a press conference on February 26. Photo: EPA

An Israeli air defence system intercepts a ballistic missile barrage over Tel Aviv launched from Iran on Sunday. Photo: Sopa Images/Zuma Press Wire/dpa

India’s trade blitz seeks to keep afloat a sinking global order

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) and European Council President Antonio Costa at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on January 27. Photo: European Council/dpa

Trade officials from India and Britain meet for talks in London last April. Photo: UK Department for Business and Trade/Reuters

People walk down a busy shopping street in Bengaluru, India, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar goes to shake hands with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

A man opens the gate of a shipping container yard in Navi Mumbai, India, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron in Davos last month. Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/AP/dpa

Indian students take part in a mock drill at a government-run school in New Delhi last year. Photo: EPA

Workers sew trousers at a garment factory on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India. Photo: Reuters

A man counts Indian rupees at a roadside currency exchange in Delhi on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Brics leaders, including India’s Prime Minister Narendra  Modi (sixth from left) at last year’s summit in Brazil. Photo: Reuters

This Week in Asia

Politics

Economics

News

Asia

South Asia

World

United States & Canada

India needs to triple its uranium supply to meet its nuclear targets. Canada, with mines already in the pipeline, is well placed to deliver


India needs to triple its uranium supply to meet its nuclear targets. Canada, with mines already in the pipeline, is well placed to deliver.


India’s 100GW nuclear push was missing one thing. Canada just provided it

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}India needs to triple its uranium supply to meet its nuclear targets. Canada, with mines already in the pipeline, is well placed to deliver

India needs to triple its uranium supply to meet its nuclear targets. Canada, with mines already in the pipeline, is well placed to deliver