Not in public interest to disclose quantity of uranium procured: Govt

The government today refused to disclose the quantity of uranium procured from mines in the country, citing public interest.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha that the Uranium Corporation of India Limited is engaged in mining and processing of uranium ore in the country.

"It is not in the public interest to disclose the quantity of production of uranium from these mines," he said.

The minister had been asked about the quantity of uranium the country is able to extract and its process.

He said that following the civil nuclear cooperation deal, the Department of Atomic Energy has been importing uranium to meet fuel requirement for safeguarded nuclear power plants and firms based in countries including Russia, France, Canada and Kazakhstan have sold uranium to India.

The maximum amount of 2473.87 MT of uranium has been procured from M/S Cameco, Canada since 2009.