Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) is an Indian public sector undertaking engaged in the mining and processing of uranium ore. It operates under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, and supplies uranium concentrate that is used as feedstock for India's nuclear fuel cycle.
| Type | Public sector undertaking |
|---|---|
| Industry | Uranium mining and milling |
| Founded | 4 October 1967 |
| Headquarters | Jaduguda, Jharkhand, India |
| Parent body | Department of Atomic Energy |
| Owner | Government of India |
| Area served | India |
UCIL is the sole producer of uranium in India. The corporation undertakes exploration support, mining, milling and the production of yellow cake (uranium oxide concentrate, U3O8), which is then transferred for further processing into nuclear fuel for India's pressurised heavy water reactors and other reactors operated by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.
Uranium occurrences in the Singhbhum Shear Zone of present-day Jharkhand were investigated from the 1950s by the Atomic Minerals Division (now the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research). The first uranium mine and mill at Jaduguda were commissioned in the late 1960s, and UCIL was incorporated in 1967 to operate these facilities and to expand uranium production capacity in the country.
UCIL's principal cluster of operations is in the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The mines and processing facilities in this region include:
To diversify production beyond Singhbhum, UCIL developed the Tummalapalle project in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, comprising an underground mine and a processing plant exploiting low-grade but extensive uranium reserves in dolostone host rock.
UCIL has pursued exploration-stage and proposed projects in other parts of India, including sites in Meghalaya, Telangana and Karnataka, in association with the Atomic Minerals Directorate.
As the only entity authorised to mine and mill uranium in India, UCIL occupies a strategic position in the country's three-stage nuclear power programme conceived by Homi J. Bhabha. Its output underpins the indigenous fuel supply for power reactors that are not under international safeguards, complementing imported uranium used for safeguarded reactors after the 2008 civil nuclear cooperation agreements.
UCIL's operations in the Jaduguda area have been the subject of public debate concerning radiation exposure, tailings management and the welfare of nearby tribal communities. The corporation maintains tailings ponds and environmental monitoring programmes, and conducts community development activities in the regions where it operates.