Australia may be able to sell uranium, ink FTA with India by next year: Envoy

India can expect to have commercial access to uranium from Australia by the middle of 2015 after all parliamentary and other regulatory processes and clearances to firms wanting to sell the product are completed, said Australia's High Commissioner to India Patrick Suckling.

Interacting with select media at the Australian High Commission here ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Australia, High Commissioner Suckling said, "The nuclear deal is done and is now going through various parliamentary and other processes. When that is done, it will be the basis for commercial business between Australian and Indian entities wanting to import uranium to India. Both PMs are committed to that agreement. (It should be) sometime within the first half of next year. The objective is to do this as fast as possible."

He also confirmed that Indian companies would also have the right to undertake exploration for uranium in Australia, but he did not give out the names of the firms under consideration.

High Commissioner also revealed that Australia is waiting to invest about ten billion dollars on projects, some of which were pending since 1993.

"It is true to say we have about 10 billion dollars of investment which has been queuing up to get into India for a long time. Some since 1993 (are) yet to fructify. What we are very encouraged by (is that) under the new Government, Modi wants to expedite investment and create an environment where those investments can flow more readily and quickly. To the extent that this happens, we will see a lot more Australian investment coming in," he said.

The envoy also revealed that Australia is keen to have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India within the next year to take bilateral economic and commercial ties to the next level.

He said Australia and China could conclude a FTA during the G-20 Summit, adding that if this pact is inked, it would be the third comprehensive FTA that Australia will conclude this year, the other two being with Japan and Korea.

"The next one (FTA) is India and both PMs have said they want this FTA done within a year. So by the end of next year they want the agreement in place,'' High Commissioner Suckling said.

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