Government announced the establishment of a critical mineral mission aimed at boosting domestic production, recycling, and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets. The initiative is poised to significantly enhance India’s position as a viable alternative to China in the supply chain of vital materials for manufacturing high-tech electronic products.
Essential raw materials such as lithium, chromium, nickel, graphite, cobalt, titanium, and rare earth elements are crucial for industries like electronics, electric vehicles, renewable energy, defense, and high-tech telecommunications.
The critical mineral mission will focus on technology development, creating a skilled workforce, implementing an extended producer responsibility framework, and establishing an appropriate financing mechanism.
The government also plans to auction the first tranche of offshore blocks for mining, building on prior exploration efforts. The extraction of critical minerals is currently dominated by a few countries, particularly China, making the supply chain susceptible to geopolitical uncertainties. Developing an alternative supply chain is crucial to reducing China’s dominance in this sector.
India is also collaborating closely with Australia, the leading producer of lithium, which accounts for approximately forty-seven percent of global production. A government-to-government agreement has been signed between the ministry of mines and the department of scientific and industrial research (DSIR), selecting five projects for lithium and cobalt, with feasibility studies underway.
As reported by assamtribune.com, KABIL, a joint venture formed by NALCO, HCL, and MECL – central public sector enterprises under the Ministry of Mines is tasked with identifying, exploring, acquiring, and developing critical and strategic mineral assets overseas.
