After commissioning three mines in the last four years, state-owned Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) will open a facility in Andhra Pradesh next year, apart from starting work on another one in Karnataka later this year. It is also awaiting approval for a project in the North East.
“We are on an expansion mode. Our project in Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh, which includes a mine and a processing plant will begin operations in 2011. Also, construction on a similar project at Gogi in Karnataka will start at the end of 2010,” UCIL chairman and managing director Ramendra Gupta told Business Standard.
In 2007, the Centre had given its approval for setting up of a uranium mine and processing plant at Tummalapalle, Cuddapah, at a cost of Rs 1,106.29 crore. The plant will be set up by the Uranium Corporation of India. As for the Gogi project, the cost for which is pegged at Rs 425 crore, UCIL had already started exploratory mining in the area, Gupta said. The firm is also waiting the Centre's approval to start work on a facility in Meghalaya, where it intends on establishing an open-cast mine.
About 16 per cent of India's uranium reserves are located in the West Khasi Hills district of the North East state, with deposits estimated to be in the range of 9,500 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at Domiasiat and Wakhyn, respectively.
Earlier this month, Meghalaya chief minister DD Lapang has said that uranium mining could start in the state by the end of this year.
At present, UCIL has six operational mines and two processing plants, all of which are located in Jharkhand. These new projects would mark the firm's foray into other parts of the country. However, Gupta said that land acquisition and clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) were issues that had to be dealt with for expanding its operations. “There is also the fact that people have a negative impression with regard to uranium mining that we have to contend with,” he added.
Incidentally, UCIL's Meghalaya venture has been met with stiff opposition from non-governmental organisations and student groups, who have raised concerns about the health hazards from uranium mining.