Cabinet takes note of India, Australia Nuclear-deal

The India-Australia civil nuclear cooperation agreement, which had been signed by both the nations in 2014, was on Wednesday taken note of by the Union Cabinet. Basically, the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “took note” of the administrative arrangements for implementing the deal, which came into force in November.

A statement issued by the government earlier in the day had erroneously stated that the Union Cabinet “has given its approval” to the agreement but later on in the evening, it issued a clarification saying that the Cabinet “took note of the administrative arrangements for implementing the India-Australia Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement that came into force on November 13, 2015”. The civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia came into force on November 13, 2015 along with the administrative arrangement for implementing the accord.

“The fuel supply arrangements with Australia will bolster energy security by supporting the expansion of nuclear power in India,” the statement said.

Signed in 2014, the deal follows similar agreements with the US and France. It is a step toward India achieving international acceptability for its nuclear programme despite not ratifying the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

India, which has nuclear energy contributing just 3 per cent of its electricity generation, will be the first country to buy Australian uranium without being a signatory to the NPT.

India and Australia began talks on the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in 2012 after the latter lifted a long-standing ban on selling uranium to energy-starved India.

New Delhi faced Western sanctions after nuclear test in 1998 but the restrictions eroded after a deal with the US in 2008 that recognised its growing economic weight as well as efficacy of safeguards against diversion of civilian nuclear fuel for military purposes.

India has less than two dozen small reactors at six sites with a capacity of 4,780 MW, or two per cent of its total installed power generation capacity. It is plans to increase its nuclear capacity to 63,000 MW by 2032 by adding nearly 30 reactors at an estimated cost of $85 billion.