Panel urges priority funding to boost atomic minerals

A parliamentary panel has recommended priority-based funding for the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMDER) to scale up uranium and rare metal exploration in the country.

In a report tabled in both Houses of Parliament, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change flagged inadequate funding for uranium exploration activities.

The panel stated that the full shortfall of Rs 118.18 crore in AMDER’s capital allocation be restored at the revised estimate stage of 2026-27.

It highlighted that uranium discovery and resource delineation are long-gestation activities with lead times of eight to twelve years between exploration and mine production.

Any reduction in exploration investment today will translate into a fuel supply bottleneck for India’s nuclear programme a decade hence, according to the panel.

It added that adequate funding for AMDER for uranium and rare metal exploration would help secure a stable domestic supply of nuclear fuel in alignment with India’s long-term energy security objectives.