India agreed to buy C$350 million ($285 million) of uranium through 2020 from Canadian producer Cameco Corp. to fuel its expanding fleet of nuclear reactors.

The accord was announced Wednesday as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ottawa, the first such trip by a PM from that nation in a generation. Cameco stock rose the most in five months in Toronto.

India is the fastest growing market for nuclear power after China. The nation is extending electricity supplies to serve more of its 1.24 billion population. It operates 21 reactors; another six are being built and due to come online by 2017.

While nuclear power isn’t the cheapest option, it’s preferable from an environmental perspective, Modi said. “This is an effort to save the world from global warming and climate change,” Modi told reporters.

India’s Department of Atomic Energy will acquire 7.1 million pounds of uranium concentrate, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco said in a statement.

“This is a new port of entry, if you will, for Cameco’s uranium and we’re glad to have it open,” Chief Executive Officer Tim Gitzel said in a phone interview.

Cameco rose 5.7 percent to C$20.07 in Toronto, the highest close since Dec. 3.

David Fuller's view

Since India has a pollution problem to rival China’s, this is a sensible move and Modi has gained another Western ally.  I assume that nuclear is replacing more of India’s coal-powered utilities, which are certainly cheaper but also the biggest polluters.