India and Canada Sign Critical Minerals and Uranium Supply Agreement Worth $1.9 Billion

India and Canada Sign Critical Minerals MoU and Long-Term Uranium Supply Agreement

On Monday, India and Canada signed a wide-ranging Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on critical minerals cooperation and sealed a long-term uranium supply agreement during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's first official visit to India. This marks a significant expansion of energy and technology ties between the two nations.

Key Highlights

• Cameco Corp., a Canadian uranium producer, signed a C$2.6 billion ($1.9 billion) agreement to supply 22 million pounds (approximately 11,000 tonnes) of uranium to India between 2027 and 2035.
• The long-term fuel arrangement is crucial for India's plan to scale up nuclear generation capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2047, nearly eleven times its current level of 8.8 gigawatts.
• The MoU on critical minerals aims to secure resilient supply chains for resources essential to clean energy technologies, electric vehicles, batteries, and advanced manufacturing.
• The two countries also agreed to expand cooperation in liquefied natural gas, solar power, hydrogen, and energy storage, and will hold an India-Canada Renewable Energy and Storage Summit later this year.

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Additional Agreements

• Canada announced its decision to join the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuel Alliance, further aligning with India's clean energy initiatives.
• The two countries committed to expanding collaboration in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, supercomputing, and semiconductors.
• An initial pact was signed to cooperate on AI development and deployment under the Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation Partnership.
• Indian IT major HCL Technologies Ltd. announced plans to expand its Canadian operations, potentially increasing its workforce there by 75% by 2030.

Strategic Significance

The agreements signal a stabilization in bilateral relations after tensions escalated in 2023 over Canadian allegations of Indian-linked involvement in violent incidents on its soil. Both sides now appear focused on rebuilding strategic and economic engagement.

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