India’s push to rapidly expand nuclear power is increasingly turning into a race to secure the uranium needed to fuel its future reactors.
With the government targeting 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, India is pursuing uranium supplies across Central Asia, Australia and North America while also exploring overseas mining assets, according to an analysis by the Times of India. The strategy is unfolding alongside a major change in domestic nuclear policy that is expected to bring private companies into power generation.
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The latest move came during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Uzbekistan last month, when the two countries agreed to work towards a long-term framework for uranium supplies.
The development was part of a broader effort to strengthen energy cooperation between the two countries. Modi told delegates in Tashkent that India would establish a long-term arrangement for uranium supply.
The uranium discussions assume significance because India’s nuclear expansion plans will require substantially more fuel than the country currently produces domestically.
India’s nuclear expansion creates a fuel challenge
India currently operates 24 nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of about 8.78 GW.
The Centre’s Nuclear Energy Mission, announced in the Union Budget for 2025-26, aims to take nuclear power capacity to 100 GW by 2047. The government has set an intermediate target of about 22 GW by 2031-32.
Industry estimates suggest that a 100-GW nuclear fleet could require around 18,000-20,000 tonnes of natural uranium every year. That would amount to roughly a third of current global uranium mine production.
India has uranium reserves in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya, but domestic availability has historically been a constraint for the country’s civil nuclear programme.
