"Administrative Arrangement" between India and Australia for the supply of uranium

Story so far: During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia last week, India and Australia “finalized the administrative arrangements” required to export uranium from Australia to India. These exports will be “exclusively for peaceful purposes and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)” under the 2015 Australia-India nuclear cooperation agreement.

What does the latest development mean?

The finalization of the “administrative arrangement” means that private Australian mining entities involved in uranium mining will be able to enter into commercial agreements with Indian private sector companies and other organisations. The participation of private Indian entities in the export of uranium from Australia adds a new chapter to India’s energy journey, which was recently boosted by the SHANTI Act passed by Parliament in December 2025, which opens up the nuclear sector to private players.

The timing of the deal is significant as it comes at a time when India’s energy sector is under a lot of pressure due to the US-Israeli attack on Iran. India is forced to diversify and explore options to meet short-term requirements by buying hydrocarbons from Russia, the United States and Venezuela while planning for the future. The Indo-Australian “administrative arrangements” for uranium exports are expected to help India meet its energy requirements in the future.

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Why is this significant?

Australia holds more than a quarter of the world’s uranium reserves and has traditionally maintained a strict policy on the supply or export of uranium to non-NPT countries. Countries that have received Australian uranium include the United States, Japan, South Korea, France, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, the United Kingdom and Germany. India is among the non-signatories, which are countries that have chosen not to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Australia exports uranium to countries with which it has “bilateral safeguards agreements” as it says promoting nuclear non-proliferation is among its “primary” considerations. The “administrative arrangement” is equivalent to the “bilateral guarantees” Australia created with India to allow its private mining companies to export uranium to India’s expanding energy portfolio.

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India is not a signatory to the NPT. So how does Australia enter into an administrative arrangement with India?

India has an impeccable nuclear supply chain track record and an ambitious nuclear power program. Although not a signatory to the NPT, it signed a safeguards agreement with the IAEA in 2008 after India and the United States signed a nuclear accord chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush. Subsequently, the 48-member group of nuclear suppliers took a major step by removing India from the list of countries with which they are prohibited from doing nuclear energy trade, opening the floodgates for nuclear-related supplies to India. This exemption has been the basis of several civil nuclear agreements that India has signed with partner countries. According to World Nuclear News, Australia is currently the fourth largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan, Canada and Namibia.

What kind of uranium supply negotiations took place in the previous two decades to make this arrangement possible in 2026?

While Canberra and New Delhi have finalized the “administrative arrangement” now, negotiations between the two sides have been ongoing for nearly two decades. On 12 November 2009, during Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s visit to India, these two issues were addressed.

A joint statement issued during the visit said: “Mr Rudd took note of India’s plans to meet its future energy requirements by exploring and developing all energy sources, including nuclear, renewable and non-conventional sources. Both sides recognized the benefits of enhancing bilateral trade exchanges in renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Both Prime Ministers also agreed that energy security concerns can best be addressed by aligning long-term, open and competitive energy country.” both sides also expressed their willingness to join efforts that support a cooperative response to any global energy crisis and highlighted the important role of open and transparent energy trade and investment markets.

The same joint statement also mentioned a mutual commitment to oppose nuclear weapons. These negotiations led to the Australia-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 2014 and entered into force in 2015.

Why has Australia agreed to an “administrative arrangement” now?

India has set a target of 1,000 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047. During his tour of Australia, Prime Minister Modi outlined that Australia could play a role in helping India achieve 500 gigawatts of clean energy, which will include nuclear power and infrastructure, by 2030. These projections have created the necessary commercial momentum for uranium supplies to India. Following the civil nuclear deal between India and Australia, Australia’s Standing Committee on Treaties stated that Australian suppliers could only begin exporting after India met conditions regarding its nuclear regulatory regime, routine inspections and reactor decommissioning plans.

Earlier this year, Canada’s Cameco agreed to supply uranium ore concentrate to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for use in India’s 24 operational nuclear reactors. The long-term contract, worth $1.9 billion, also boosted international confidence in India’s nuclear power program as an attractive area for investment. India is expected to build several nuclear reactors in the coming years to meet the target of 1,000 GW of nuclear power by 2047.

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| Video Credit: The Hindu

Published – 13 Jul 2026 13:18 IST