Securing future with a minerals mission
The National Critical Minerals Mission seeks to meet India’s national security needs and the ‘net zero by 2070’ target in a responsible manner
“The treasury has its source in the mines; from the treasury, the army comes into being; with the treasury and the army the earth is obtained, with the treasury as its ornament,” Chanakya says in the Arthashastra. The Indian State, for many millennia, has recognised the importance of mines for economic development and for securing the welfare of its people. Chanakya’s treatise on statecraft is an example of the explicit realisation of the strategic value of minerals; it goes on to provide detailed guidelines for mining operations. From the mining of zinc in Zawar, Rajasthan, more than 2,500 years ago to the discovery of the Koh-i-noor, India has long understood the strategic value of mines and minerals.
Our national security, energy security and food security needs may have changed since the time of Chanakya, but India, over the last decade, has been working with alacrity to secure its future. The National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) to ramp up domestic production, acquire critical mineral assets from overseas, and focus on technology development, capacity-building and a suitable financing mechanism was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the FY25 budget. This set the ball rolling for developing a comprehensive action plan that looked at all aspects of critical minerals.
Now, the Union Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, has approved the implementation of NCMM with a financial outlay of ₹16,300 crore to secure the long-term, sustainable supply of critical minerals and strengthen their value chains in India.
The NCMM builds on a slew of reforms that have been undertaken in the past decade. In 2015, sweeping amendments were made to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act). This included the introduction of a transparent auction regime that has led to 442 blocks being auctioned and states accruing approximately ₹2.7 lakh crore in the form of auction premiums and royalties. The establishment of the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) has revolutionised the nation’s mining narrative with the ₹6,000 crore received since its inception being leveraged for exploration activities.
Apart from this, the District Mineral Funds (DMF) across mineral-bearing districts have received ₹1 lakh crore that has been used for development and welfare activities.
The Union government has been focusing on critical minerals for several years. In this regard, the MMDR Act has already identified 24 elements as critical minerals. These include lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel which are required for securing our energy transition needs and building energy storage systems (ESS), vanadium and titanium that have applications in aerospace, glauconite, phosphate and potash that will ensure food security and agriculture productivity, apart from several other rare earth elements (REE) that have a wide range of applications. These critical minerals are required in various crucial areas — from ceramics to construction, from medicine to military.
Furthermore, the government has already conducted auctions across 10 states for about 23 blocks that bear critical minerals such as graphite, lithium, tungsten, cobalt, vanadium and REE. Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL), a public sector undertaking under the ministry of mines, has signed an agreement for the exploration and development of five lithium brine blocks in an area of about 16,000 hectares, located in the Catamarca province of Argentina.
The mission brings together several of these initiatives and gives them a focused approach with targets, measurable outcomes, and a financial outlay. To meet the targets and outcomes, the ministry of mines will be working with several other ministries, including the ministry of external affairs.
The critical minerals mission takes this whole-of-government approach and transforms it into a whole-of-society approach, by recognising the entrepreneurial spirit and risk-taking appetite of the private sector and involving research institutes and universities to further develop cutting-edge technologies. Indian companies will be incentivised to explore critical mineral assets within India and participate in the auction of 100 critical mineral blocks by FY31, apart from securing overseas mining assets focused on key battery minerals, including lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt, and graphite.
The mission will also support 100 domestic research and development (R&D) projects and create 10,000 skilled professionals, specialising in the critical minerals sector, ranging from mining and processing to recycling, thereby equipping India’s industries with the necessary human capital to drive growth and innovation. This is expected to generate 1,000 patents on critical minerals by 2030.
In August 2023, at the Business20 (B20) summit, the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community, PM Modi identified the challenge for critical materials and rare earth elements as they are abundant in some places and not present at all in others. He observed that all of humankind would need these and the ones that have them should see it as a global responsibility rather than promote a new model of colonialism. The NCMM is an attempt to secure India’s national security needs and meet its net zero emission target by 2070 in a responsible manner by building a broad global coalition. The mission will foster bilateral and multilateral partnerships with resource-endowed nations through strategic trade agreements and international collaboration in a fair and equitable manner. As India embarks on the journey of Viksit Bharat 2047, this mission will play a key role in building a globally competitive and resilient critical mineral ecosystem for India.
G Kishan Reddy is Union minister of coal and mines.The views expressed are personal
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