India moves to secure critical mineral supply chain

INdia is moving to untroubled its vital mineral furnish chains by strengthening all stages of production, from geographic expedition and minelaying to the recovery of materials from end-of-life products, the ministry of mines informed Parliament this month.The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has intensified its search for these strategic resources, minister of mines G Kishan Reddy told Lok Sabha on February 4. The GSI conducted 195 critical mineral exploration projects in 2024-25 and has initiated 230 projects for 2025-26.Additionally, the National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust (NMEDT) sanctioned 62 projects for 2024-25 and 60 for 2025-26 through notified private and government agencies. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act), 1957, was amended in 2025 to expand the NMEDT’s scope to support mineral exploration and mining overseas, Reddy said.Since 2023, the government has auctioned 46 blocks of critical and strategic minerals, along with seven blocks under an exploration licence regime. The Union cabinet has also approved a ₹1,500 crore incentive scheme for critical mineral recycling.To bolster global supply, Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) signed an agreement with CAMYEN, a state-owned enterprise in Argentina’s Catamarca province, to mine five lithium brine blocks covering 15,703 hectares.Domestically, the government plans to develop four mineral processing parks by 2030. During the 2025-26 budget, the Centre exempted 25 minerals from basic customs duty, including cobalt powder and lithium-ion battery scrap.“The National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) envisions securing a long-term sustainable supply of critical minerals and strengthen India’s critical mineral value chains... With a view to reducing import dependence for strategic sectors such as electronics, clean energy and manufacturing,” Reddy stated in a written response.To fast-track production, the government has exempted mining projects for atomic and critical minerals from public hearings and permitted compensatory afforestation on degraded forest land. The environment ministry is processing these clearances under a separate, non-public head on its Parivesh 2.0 portal, an automated system for environmental clearance applications.However, experts have warned against the environmental toll of these strategies. China currently processes more than half the world’s lithium and two-thirds of its cobalt, a dominance built on early investments and historically loose environmental standards.Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, noted that China followed a “pollute first, clean up later” route which led to horrendous air and water pollution.“The clean-up has included relocating facilities, carrying out major process overhauls and pollution control retrofits... Which is very costly but still results in a much worse outcome than avoiding the contamination in the first place,” Myllyvirta said.In 2023, India identified 30 minerals as critical, including antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanuim, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, and nickel.