ONGC-UCI to explore uranium mines

New Delhi, Sep 17: Country's largest oil and gas explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) on Wednesday, Sep 17 said it will enter into a uranium mining alliance with state-run Uranium Corp of India (UCI) in a month's time.

''We will sign the agreement in a month's time for exploring uranium reserves in the country,'' ONGC CMD R S Sharma told reporters here. The proposal has been cleared by the boards of both the companies, he added. Business prospects look good for uranium mining as more opportunities expected to come up with the nuclear deal with the US likely to come through.

India, which has 0.8 per cent of the world's uranium reserves, will need 78,000 tonnes to fulfil plans to generate 20,000 MW of electricity through nuclear power by 2020.

UNI