GJLD--BIZ-UZBEK-URANIUM

Widening the source base for

the nuclear fuel, the government Friday entered into a long-

term contract with Uzbekistan for supplying uranium ore

concentrates.

The contract was signed in the presence of Prime

Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbekistan President Shavkat

Mirziyoyev, who are here for the three-day Vibrant Gujarat

summit that began Friday. The two leaders held a bilateral

meeting as well.

Modi also had separate bilateral meetings with his

counterparts in Denmark, The Czech Republic and Malta.

"The department of atomic energy (DAE) and Novoi Minerals &

Metallurgical Company of Uzbekistan today exchanged contracts

for long-term supply of uranium ore concentrates," foreign

ministry said in a statement without offering more details.

The contracts were exchanged by DEA secretary KN Vyas

and Uzbekistan deputy minister of economy and industry Sohib

Saifzazarov, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Exim Bank signed an agreement with

Uzbekistan to extend a USD 200-million line of credit for

financing housing and social infrastructure projects in the

former Soviet republic, it said, adding the credit line was

announced by Modi during the official visit of Mirziyoyev last

October to New Delhi.

Mirziyoyev said he was keen on attracting Indian

capital in areas like IT, education, pharma, healthcare, agri

business and tourism.

According to the World Nuclear Association, the body

that represents the global nuclear industry, the landlocked

Central Asian country is the seventh largest exporter of

uranium in the world.

New Delhi has been working on securing a stockpile of

nuclear fuel for its strategic uranium reserve to sustain the

nuclear reactors for the next five years so that the reactors

would not stop functioning for want of fuel as had happened

after the Pokhran II nuclear tests.

The US and other nations had imposed economic and

technology sanctions on New Delhi following both the Pokhran

nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998.

Attempts are also being made to procure uranium from

Australia. A nuclear cooperation pact between the two nations

was signed in 2014 and came into force in 2015.

After the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement, New

Delhi's quest to have a uranium reserve got traction as

importing fuel became much easier.

Apart from domestic production, the country imports

uranium from Kazakhstan and Canada. This is primarily used to

fuel its indigenously built pressurised heavy water reactors.

Some uranium is also produced from Russia. Apart from that, it

has agreements in place to import uranium from Namibia and

Mongolia.

Earlier,Modi held meetings with Maltese Prime Minister

Josheph Muscat apart from Czech and Danish counterparts Andrej

Babis and Lars Lokke Rasmussen, respectively.

"Modi and Muscat and discussed the growing economic

linkages between the two nations. They also agreed to enhance

mutual cooperation in sectors such as renewable energy, pharma

and healthcare, air connectivity and tourism," foreign

ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

While Modi discussed trade, technology and investment,

cooperation in defence, high-tech manufacturing, heavy

engineering automobiles and civil aviation with Babis, he

discussed bilateral relationship, trade and investment in

renewable energy, waste management, agriculture and food

processing with the Danish counterpart, Kumar said in another

tweet.