Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand described the deal signed on Monday by a Canadian company to supply uranium to India as a “landmark” deal. Scott Moe, premier of the province of Saskatchewan where the company Cameco is based, said it was a “great day” for the bilateral partnership.
The deal was finalised during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s four-day bilateral visit to India. Cameco, headquartered in Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, will provide nearly 22 million pounds of uranium ore concentrate to India over a nine-year period, with a total contract value estimated at approximately CA$ 2.6 billion. The agreement, with the Department of Atomic Energy, was exchanged by Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe with India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Dinesh Patnaik in Hyderabad House in New Delhi as Carney and Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked on. Supply is expected to begin in 2027 and run through 2035.
In a statement, Scott Moe said, “Today marks a great day for this longstanding partnership and holds a lot of promise for a bright future together.”
A similar agreement was signed for a five-year term in 2015 when Modi visited Canada that spring. The current agreement is longer and five times the value of the original.
“We understand Saskatchewan’s potential to supply the world with the fuel it needs to power the economies of tomorrow and it’s great to see India value the energy security we can provide,” Moe added.
In a release issued on Monday, Cameco CEO Gitzel said, “Cameco is proud to be a strategic partner with India to help meet its civil nuclear fuel needs and support its trade relationship with Canada.” “India is embarking on an ambitious nuclear expansion to power its development plans and meet the future energy security needs of its people. That isn’t possible without a stable supply of uranium fuel,” he added.
India aims to attain 100 gigawatt of nuclear power capacity by 2047. It currently has 24 operating nuclear power plants, with plans to add dozens more. “Cameco is globally recognised as a nuclear fuel supplier of choice, and we are pleased to be a trusted provider for India once again,” Gitzel said.
In a post on X, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anand described the deal as a “landmark that marked a significant step in advancing the Canada–India Strategic Energy Partnership.”
Carney completed his successful visit to India on Monday evening and after arriving in Sydney for the Australian leg of his trip, posted on X, “Canada is on a mission to double our trade with India and attract massive new investment for Canadian businesses.”