The shift of critical minerals to India’s strategic centre

UPSC Syllabus: Gs Paper 3- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Introduction

Critical minerals have moved from a marginal policy issue to a central pillar of India’s industrial, energy, and geopolitical strategy. This shift reflects the growing importance of minerals in clean energy, electric mobility, and advanced manufacturing. The launch of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) with ₹16,300 crore outlay and policy reforms signal India’s transition from viewing minerals as raw materials to treating them as strategic assets for economic security and technological competitiveness.

Understanding Critical Minerals and Their Strategic Importance

1. Definition and strategic relevance:

Critical Minerals: Critical minerals are a category of non-fuel minerals and elements which satisfy 2 conditions:

• Economic development & National Security = Essential for economic development and national security as they are vital for development of materials for defense, aerospace, nuclear, and space applications.
• Supply chain vulnerability = There are associated risk of supply chain vulnerability and disruption with these minerals, due to their lack of availability, and concentration of existence, extraction or processing of these minerals in few geographical locations.

2. Identified minerals: The Ministry of Mines identified 30 critical minerals in 2023, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, graphite, rare earth elements, tungsten, titanium, gallium, germanium, and vanadium, which support modern industrial and technological systems.
3. Clean energy role: Solar cells require silicon, tellurium, indium, and gallium, while wind turbines depend on rare earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium. India’s solar capacity is 64 GW and wind capacity is planned to increase from 42 GW to 140 GW by 2030, raising mineral demand.
4. Electric mobility role: Lithium, nickel, and cobalt are essential for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems. With the target of 30% electric vehicle penetration by 2030, securing mineral supplies has become critical.
5. Climate importance: Critical minerals are essential for achieving climate targets such as 45% reduction in emissions intensity by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2070, while strengthening India’s industrial competitiveness.

Policy Framework and Current Capabilities

1. Policy shift: Earlier, several minerals like lithium were classified as atomic minerals, restricting private participation. The government has now created a comprehensive policy framework and launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (2024–25 to 2030–31) to secure mineral supply chains.
2. National mission: The National Critical Mineral Mission (2024–2031) has ₹16,300 crore government outlay and ₹18,000 crore expected investments. It covers exploration, mining, processing, recycling, and research.
3. Legal reforms: Amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act give the central government exclusive powers to auction 24 of the 30 critical minerals, while exploration norms and royalty rates have been eased.
4. Processing capability: India already produces high-purity copper, graphite, rare earth oxides, tin, and titanium, often exceeding 99.9% purity, showing strong technical capability in mineral processing.
5. Recycling support: The government has allocated ₹100 crore for mineral recovery from mine waste and ₹1,500 crore recycling incentives, targeting 270 kiloton recycling capacity and generating 70,000 jobs.
6. Research ecosystem: The mission aims to file 1,000 patents by 2030–31, supported by seven Centres of Excellence including IIT Bombay, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Dhanbad, and CSIR institutions.

Challenges and Strategic Context

1. Global dependence: China controls up to 90% of global mineral processing capacity, highlighting India’s vulnerability to supply disruptions and geopolitical pressures.
2. Limited domestic production scale and technological gaps: Although India has processing capability, production remains limited and focused on conventional uses. Clean energy and defence needs require technological upgrading and capacity expansion.
3. Exploration barriers: Mineral discovery and mining take years or decades, creating delays in achieving supply security. Exploration investments also carry high financial and technical risks.
4. Demand constraints: Lack of assured domestic demand for processed minerals discourages private investment. Delays in backward integration affect the stability of mineral processing ecosystems.
5. Technology gap: Limited access to advanced processing technology slows mineral capability development.

Way Forward

1. Demand Creation

Expand domestic manufacturing: India should accelerate deployment of electric vehicles, batteries, solar modules, and wind turbines to create stable domestic demand for processed minerals and strengthen the mineral ecosystem.

Strengthen value chain: The government should improve coordination between mining, processing, and manufacturing sectors to reduce investor uncertainty and support processing capacity expansion.

2. Exploration Technology

Increase exploration efforts: India should accelerate exploration under the National Critical Mineral Mission, which targets 1,200 projects by FY2031, to improve domestic mineral availability.

Adopt AI exploration: The government should integrate AI tools under the IndiaAI Mission, National Geospatial Policy, and Mission Anveshan to improve mineral discovery and reduce risks.

3. Global Partnerships

Build domestic capacity: India should develop rare earth corridors and strengthen domestic processing infrastructure to reduce external dependence.

Strengthen partnerships: India should expand cooperation with Australia, Japan, Europe, the UK, and the US to improve technology access, investment, and supply chain resilience.

Conclusion

Critical minerals have become central to India’s economic security, clean energy transition, and industrial future. The National Critical Mineral Mission provides a strong institutional and policy foundation, but success depends on execution, technological upgrading, domestic demand creation, and global partnerships. Coordinated action across government, industry, and international partners will determine India’s ability to achieve mineral security, technological independence, and long-term strategic leadership in critical minerals.

Question for practice:

Examine the strategic importance of critical minerals for India’s industrial, clean energy, and technological goals, and evaluate the role of the National Critical Mineral Mission in ensuring mineral security.

Source: The Hindu