World’s largest uranium producer Kazakhstan will supply 5,000 tonnes of the radioactive fuel to India in the 2015-19 period, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Wednesday.
India needs to increase its power capacity from the existing 4,560 to megawatts by 14 times over the next 20 years. For this, the country needs the help of foreign nuclear technology and fuel.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited Astana, the Kazakh capital and has in the past, made nuclear power a key element of his clean energy strategy. Modi is currently on a six-nation tour of Central Asia and Russia, where he is scheduled to attend the BRICS and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Summits.
Had a very fruitful meeting & delegation level talks with President Nazarbayev. pic.twitter.com/Mzm9vp3uGo
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2015
Here are some photos from the ceremonial welcome this morning. pic.twitter.com/17RhlItkqu
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2015
In January this year, the PM announced a pact with US President Barack Obama to help clear a backlog of stalled projects.
No further details are available so far of the agreement with Kazakhstan.