Mines Ministry to Unveil “List of Critical Minerals for India

Source: The post is based on the article “Mines Ministry to Unveil “List of Critical Minerals for India” published in PIB on 27th June 2023

What is the News?

The Central government will be releasing for the first time “the list of Critical Minerals for India”.

What are Critical Minerals?

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What is the objective behind releasing the list of Critical Minerals for India?

Firstly, the list is designed to identify and prioritize minerals that are essential for various industrial sectors such as high-tech electronics, telecommunications, transport, and defense.

Secondly, the list will serve as a guiding framework for policy formulation, strategic planning, and investment decisions in the mining sector.

Thirdly, this initiative also aligns with the larger vision of achieving a ‘Net Zero’ target for India through the Government’s commitment to creating a robust and resilient mineral sector.

What are the challenges India faces in assuring resilient critical minerals supply chains?

India’s dependence on foreign countries for critical minerals: Manufacturing renewable energy technologies would require increasing quantities of minerals, including copper, manganese, zinc, and indium.

– Similarly, the transition to electric vehicles would require increasing amounts of minerals, including copper, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements.

– However, India does not have many of these mineral reserves, or its requirements may be higher than the availability, making India dependent on foreign partners to meet domestic needs.

Russia-Ukraine war: Russia is a significant producer of nickel, palladium, titanium sponge, & scandium and Ukraine is one of the major producers of titanium. The war between the two countries has implications for these critical mineral supply chains.

Policy issues: Many critical and strategic minerals constitute part of the list of atomic minerals in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957.However, the present policy regime reserves these minerals only for public sector undertakings.

What is the way forward for India in critical minerals?

Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act 1957 needs to be amended to exclude critical minerals such as atomic minerals.

Critical minerals must be prospected, explored, and mined on priority, as any delays may hinder India’s emissions reduction and climate change mitigation timeline.

India must actively engage in bilateral and plurilateral arrangements for building assured and resilient critical mineral supply chains.

The assessment of critical minerals for India needs to be updated every three years to keep pace with changing domestic and global scenarios