The Hindu : National : Kazakh to supply 2,000 tonnes of uranium

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Kazakh to supply 2,000 tonnes of uranium

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Kazakhstan will supply over 2,000 tonnes of uranium to India for its existing nuclear plants. Both sides are negotiating the price.

India could also take up equity stake in Kazakh uranium mines and join the nuclear research centre being set up with active Japanese collaboration.

These issues were discussed during a recent telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said reliable sources.

The leaders were due to interact when Mr. Nazarbayev was here as the chief guest at Republic Day, the first Central Asian President conferred the privilege. But the meeting did not happen as Dr. Singh was indisposed.

The uranium supply will be for five years and comes with no strings attached. If the Inter-Governmental Agreement on peaceful use of nuclear energy is finalised in the coming years, supply could begin by the year-end. This would be the third international pact to bridge the supply-demand gap. India has already signed agreements with Russia and France for sourcing uranium for nuclear plants being built by their companies.

As part of an Indian strategy to set a footprint in Central Asia, Dr. Singh discussed plans to collaborate more actively in space and biological research, besides the National Thermal Power Corporation’s proposal to install a mega plant in northern Kazakhstan.

Though Kazakhstan has suitors in Russia, China and companies from the western world, it is keen on tapping Indian expertise in select areas as part of its multivector (balanced approach) policy.

“Though both countries do not need each other in a big way, India should show itself prominently in that part of the world,” said the sources.

Both sides are focussing on big projects to start with.

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