Labor's Left faction has conceded it does not have the numbers to prevent a reversal of the party's ban on uranium sales to India.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will ask next month's ALP national conference to overturn long-standing party policy that allows uranium to be sold only to nations that have signed up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Ms Gillard says it's time for Labor to broaden its platform and strengthen Australia's connection with "dynamic, democratic India".
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Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, a strong supporter of the move, says he expects the conference to back Ms Gillard.
Left faction convenor Doug Cameron agrees, saying a reversal of policy is a fait accompli because it has the backing of the powerful Right faction.
Ms Gillard says India will have to meet the same standards that now apply to importers of Australian uranium.
That means strict adherence to International Atomic Energy Agency arrangements and strong bilateral and transparency measures which provide assurances that Australian uranium would be used only for peaceful purposes.
Senator Cameron is not convinced, saying it was his understanding that India did not have sufficient uranium to meet both its energy and military needs.
"We'll simply be exporting uranium to India and that will free up uranium within India for the military program," he said.
The Australian Greens and conservation groups are of a similar mind.
Greens leader Bob Brown warned that selling uranium to India would add to the "nuclear arms race".
"This is a country that has intermediate-range missiles," he told ABC radio.
"It's developing a plethora of nuclear submarines with nuclear weapons."
The Australian Conservation Foundation says Australia, as significant global uranium supplier, had a responsibility to acknowledge that India was a nuclear-armed state that obtained its weapons capacity in breach of international commitments.
Adding Australian uranium to the mix would not ease long-standing tensions between India and its nuclear-armed neighbours, it said.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith defended the move saying the United States supplied uranium to India under a bilateral deal signed in 2008.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group, an alliance of nuclear supplier countries, also had approved the deal
"This is a sensible thing to do," Mr Smith told ABC radio, adding that it was an important step that reflected India's rising stature.
Mr Ferguson said it was hypocritical for Australia to sell uranium to China and Russia but not the largest democracy in the world.
"It's one of the 10 largest economies in the world with huge purchasing power," he told ABC radio, adding India was not a rogue state.
Senator Cameron rejected as "a silly argument" suggestions Australia was missing out on economic benefits because of its ban on uranium sales to India.
Any policy shift could add up to $1.7 billion in annual exports, with BHP Billiton one of the biggest beneficiaries.
"We've got enough trouble now getting enough skilled labour to service the minerals industry," he said.
But Warren Mundine, a former national president of the ALP, says the move is good news for indigenous communities.
"It gives them an economic base, gets economic development going," the indigenous leader told AAP.
The biggest driver for employment, education and training for indigenous people was coming out of the mining industry.
