Abstract Uranium exploration is of paramount importance to India to maximize the indigeneous resources to meet the ever increasing demand for energy. Comprehensive regional and local zones of uranium mineralization are needed to be resolved. Such data comprise information on radioactivity in various energy ranges and on lithological knowledge. Airborne gamma-ray spectrometric techniques are particularly suited to provide spatial information. This review briefly discusses the conventional data presentation, statistically significant maps and the schemes suitable for classification of mineralized zones. A brief introduction is provided to airborne gamma-ray data, their acquisition, analysis, processing and interpretation to bring out their role in designing suitable models of uranium resources. State-of-the-art in uranium exploration covers radiometric mapping through airborne gamma-ray surveys. Through the examples of the Indian work done during this decade, the state-of-the-art and its usefulness in the country has been illustrated. It is concluded that the high sensitivity airborne gamma-ray spectrometric surveys coupled with modern methods of data analysis can further narrow down the targets.