India Decides Against New Uranium Mines

Mining Weekly reported that India has decided not to pursue new uranium projects as local residents are against uranium mining. The federal government also has limited funds available to allocate towards the new mines.
As quoted in the market news:

Senior government officials noted that while prospects for new uranium mines had emerged in provinces like Meghalaya, Himachal and Uttarakhand, issues, such as unstable hilly terrain and opposition from locals, had forced the government to go slow in taking up mining projects in these areas.
Simultaneously, uranium mining under the authority of the Department of Atomic Energy could only be implemented when large funding requirements were assured from the federal government, not only for mining but also research and development. Without this funding, it would not be possible to initiate projects piecemeal, the officials added.
It was pointed out that in Meghalaya, a large number of the local political parties representing ethnic and tribal sections had been running movements against uranium mining in the region, and government could not ignore the opposition given the strategic location of the north-eastern province and the sensitivities of minority communities.
While information on uranium reserves in general, and Meghalaya in specifically, were not readily available from government agencies, as it was categorised as a ‘strategic mineral’, unofficial reports estimated the reserves in the province to range between 9 000 t and 14 000 t, ranking third among all other uranium-rich provinces in the country after Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. The Uranium Corporation of India Limited had undertaken premining activities in West Khasi Hills in the province, but was stopped in 2009, with officials now saying that the projects, or other similar projects in the region, were unlikely to be take up in the immediate future.

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