Uranium Corp seeks mega push after mega find

The recent discovery of a massive uranium deposits at Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh, where reserve size might touch 1.5 lakh tonne, making it the largest uranium reserve in the world, has made Uranium Corporation of India rework its priorities in channelling investments.

“We have asked the Planning Commission for Rs4,500 crore (over a billion dollars) and we are expecting that they will agree for Rs2,000 crore (to be spend during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period), which would be enough for one major project, and most probably it will come up in Tummalapalle area because the prospects are relatively good there,” UCIL chairman and managing director R Gupta said on Wednesday.

UCIL is already constructing an underground mine up to a depth of 300 metre at Tummalapalle, and will set up a processing plant with a capacity of 3,000 tonne a day in the first phase.

“The mine and mill project is progressing well and trial runs are expected to start between October and January,” Gupta said. With the new discovery, the capacity of the processing plant will have to be doubled at a later stage.

But the company’s other projects are facing delays due to opposition by locals.

“Approvals for the project in Gogi in Karnataka is expected after environmental clearance, while land acquisition at Lambapur in Andhra Pradesh has already been initiated but the progress,” Gupta said.