The Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) celebrated its golden jubilee for its very first breakthrough in the field of oil 50 years back in Lunej, Cambay Basin off the Gulf of Cambay, Gujarat. Alongside the event another proposed plan of the firm was disclosed as the company readies itself for exploration in Uranium.

The plan will be implemented with the support of Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL). ONGC has given its consent for the memorandum of understanding (MoU) in uranium mining which was offered in July by the UCIL. Uranium which is used as source of energy in Nuclear Power plants is the need of the hour for the nation.

ONGC which plans to carry forward with its project in the State of Gujarat said that they have found some radioactive material in around 9,500 oil wells throughout the nation, most of them in the provinces of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.  

On this project R S Sharma, chairman and managing director of ONGC said that, “We have found traces of uranium in the oil wells that were dug in the state. We will be exploring some areas in Gujarat once we are confident about the data collected then will approach UCIL for uranium mining in Gujarat and other states such as Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.”

The oil company is also planning for global projects with the same ally. However, the ONGC-UCIL stake will be in ratio of 74:26, the Uranium firm stands for an option to increase its share to 49% later on.

The Oil and Natural Gas minister, Mr Murli Deora who was also present at the occasion in Gujarat plans to implement a dual pricing system for diesel. It plans to continue with the subsidy in public sector but will cut short for the private sector subsidy.