Operationalisation pact likely to be ready in 3-4 months: Goyal

The agreement to operationalise civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia is likely to be ready in the next 3-4 months, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal today said.

"The agreement is likely to be ready in next 3-4 months to operationalise civil nuclear cooperation pact with Australia," he said here today.

The agreement, which will allow Australia to supply uranium to India, was signed between the two countries on Friday last.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott, discussed ways to enhance cooperation in key areas of security and trade.

The two leaders also discussed crucial bilateral, regional and international issues including the situation in Iraq and Ukraine.

India and Australia, which has about a third of the world's recoverable uranium resources and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of it per year, launched talks on uranium sales in 2012 after Canberra lifted a long-time ban on exporting the valuable yellow cake to Delhi to meet its ambitious nuclear energy programme.

The pact is significant given that Indian nuclear plants generate around 4,680 MW of power, of which the 2,840 MW was from indigenous uranium while 1,840 MW was from imported fuel.