Uranium giant Cameco (CCO-T26.510.582.24%) is looking to India as its next big customer as part of an aggressive push into Asia, where nuclear energy is poised to become a major source of electricity.

After recently securing long-term supply deals with China, Cameco chief executive officer Jerry Grandey said the company has its sights on agreements with major Indian companies – deals he hopes to land soon.

“The commitment of these countries and others to building nuclear energy capacity is the biggest growth opportunity for suppliers of nuclear fuel in more than 30 years,” Mr. Grandey said during a conference call Friday.

Saskatchewan-based Cameco is pursuing the deals after Ottawa and India recently signed a nuclear co-operation agreement in late June, allowing for the export of nuclear technology, equipment and uranium.

Deals with India are now possible after the Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted a 34-year ban on nuclear co-operation with the country a couple years ago. The Nuclear Suppliers Group is made up of 46 countries, including Canada, that control the export and retransfer of uranium. The group was formed in 1974 in response to India’s nuclear test that year.

India intends to build dozens of nuclear reactors to meet a target of generating 25 per cent of its electricity from nuclear power by 2050.

There are about 19 reactors currently operating in India, four under construction, 20 planned and another 40 in the proposal stages, according to World Nuclear Association statistics.

But it’s China that has the most ambitious growth plans in the world, with 12 operating nuclear reactors today, 24 under construction, 33 planned and another 120 proposed.

While China is considered one of the biggest growth markets, along with Russia, which has its own plans for nuclear power domination, India is still a big future market for producers such as Cameco.

“It has potential,” said BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Edward Sterck, adding that the pace of growth will not likely be as intense as it is in China because India doesn’t have a central government making decisions around supply.

Cameco signed two separate agreements with Chinese companies in June, which will help the Saskatoon-based company reach its goal of doubling production to more than 40 million pounds per year by 2018.

The first agreement will see Cameco supply about 23 million pounds of uranium by 2020 to a division of China National Nuclear Corp., the country’s largest nuclear generator – Cameco’s first long-term deal to supply uranium to a major Chinese player.

The other deal, with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd., is a “long-term co-operation agreement” that says the parties will try to negotiate of uranium purchase deals in the future.

Also Friday, Cameco lowered its 2010 uranium sales forecast to 30 million pounds, down from a range of 31 to 33 million pounds, citing a deferral of deliveries by some customers into next year.

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