Building Resilience in India’s Critical Minerals Ecosystem

Critical minerals have become the strategic backbone of the 21st-century economy, supporting modern technologies. As the global shift towards renewables accelerates, control over mineral supply chains is reshaping geopolitics and economic competitiveness. However, their production and processing remain highly concentrated, creating supply risks and strategic vulnerabilities. For India, achieving net-zero goals, Atmanirbhar Bharat and advanced manufacturing makes secure access to critical minerals a national developmental and security imperative. 

What are the Critical Minerals? 

• About: Critical minerals are those minerals that are essential for economic development, energy transition, and national security, but whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption due to import dependence, geopolitical concentration, or limited domestic availability.  
  • The Government of India has released a list of 30 critical minerals for India.   
  • These minerals are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE,Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium,Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium. 
  • They are critical because of: 
    • High economic & strategic importance 
    • Limited domestic reserves 
    • High import dependence 
    • Geographically concentrated global supply 
    • Difficult substitution 
• Usage: Critical minerals play a crucial role in clean energy transition and modern industries. Their applications can be seen across the following sectors: 
  • Clean Energy: Critical minerals underpin India’s clean energy transition across solar, wind, electric mobility, and energy storage.  
    • Solar PV manufacturing depends on silicon, tellurium, indium and gallium, while wind turbines require rare earths such as neodymium and dysprosium for permanent magnets.  
    • The rapid scale-up of EVs and grid-scale storage under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan( NEMMP)and renewable integration plans will sharply raise demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel. 
  • Electronics and Semiconductors: Critical minerals such as gallium, germanium, silicon, indium and rare earth elements are essential for manufacturing semiconductors, smartphones, computers, LEDs and microchips. 
  • Defence and Strategic Technologies: Rare earth elements, titanium, tungsten and beryllium are used in missile guidance systems, radar, fighter aircraft, drones and night-vision devices. Secure access to these minerals is vital for defence preparedness and strategic autonomy. 
  • Aerospace and Space Technology: Critical minerals like titanium, lithium and rare earths are used in aircraft engines, satellites and space launch vehicles due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and heat resistance. India’s expanding space sector and Gaganyaan mission will further raise demand. 
  • Nuclear Energy: Uranium, zirconium and rare earth elements are used in nuclear fuel, reactors and control rods. As India aims to increase nuclear power capacity to ensure clean base-load energy, the strategic importance of these minerals grows. 
  • Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure: Copper, rare earths and lithium are crucial for 5G networks, optical fibre cables, data centres and power backup systems. India’s digital expansion under Digital India and BharatNet depends heavily on these materials. 
  • Medical and Healthcare Technologies: Critical minerals such as rare earths, platinum group metals and cobalt are used in MRI machines, X-ray systems, cancer treatment equipment and medical implants, improving diagnostic and treatment capabilities. 
  • Manufacturing and Advanced Materials: Tungsten, chromium, nickel and molybdenum are used in high-strength alloys, stainless steel and industrial machinery, supporting sectors like construction, automobiles and heavy engineering. 
  • Water Treatment and Environmental Management: As water scarcity increases, critical minerals are becoming essential for purifying and managing water resources. Rare earth elements (like lanthanum and cerium) are used in specialized filters to remove heavy metals and phosphates from wastewater. 
• Availability of Domestic Reserves in India: India has geological potential for several critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, copper and rare earth elements, but most of these reserves are not fully explored or commercially mined yet. 
  • For example, lithium reserves have been identified in Jammu & Kashmir, but large-scale mining has not started. 

What Reforms India has Undertaken with Regard to Critical Minerals? 

• National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM): The government has launched the National Critical Mineral Mission.  
  • The mission focuses on increasing exploration, promoting domestic mining and processing, encouraging recycling, and strengthening research and technology. 
  • In the 2024-25 field season, Geological Survey of India has taken up 195 projects, including 35 in Rajasthan, focused on identifying and assessing critical mineral deposits. 
  • Also, it calls for the establishment of the Center of Excellence (CECM) to periodically update the list of critical minerals and provide technical guidance for processing and value addition. 
• Legislative Reforms: The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 brings major reforms to align India’s mining sector with the global focus on critical minerals. It removes six minerals—including lithium, titanium, and zirconium, from the atomic minerals list to open them up for wider participation.  
  • It also introduces an exploration licence regime to boost deep-seated and critical mineral exploration. 
• Enhanced Focus on Recycling and Urban Mining: Since domestic mining takes time, India is promoting recycling of batteries, e-waste and electronic goods to recover critical minerals. 
  • For instance, the Incentive Scheme to promote Critical Mineral Recycling has been allocated Rs.1,500 crore to develop recycling capacity in the country for the separation and production of critical minerals from secondary sources. 
  • This supports a circular economy and reduces import dependence. 
• Manufacturing and Processing Push: The government is encouraging domestic manufacturing of rare-earth magnets, batteries and semiconductor materials to move beyond raw material imports and build value chains within India. 
  • For instance, IREL’s efforts to expand rare earth processing and magnet manufacturing, the PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC)  batteries, and the Semiconductor Mission supporting fabrication and compound semiconductor units reflect India’s shift from mineral dependence to value-added manufacturing. 
• Regulatory Streamlining: In September 2025, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) exempted mining projects for atomic, critical, and strategic minerals from public consultations, citing national security and strategic concerns.  
  • However, these projects will still undergo comprehensive appraisal by sectoral expert committees and be cleared at the central level, regardless of project size. 
• International Cooperation: India is partnering with other countries through bilateral and multilateral initiatives to secure stable supplies of critical minerals and invest in overseas mining and processing projects. 
  • For instance, KABIL’s overseas partnerships, including a lithium exploration agreement with Argentina’s CAMYEN SE (covering 15,703 ha of lithium exploration ) and an MoU with Australia’s Critical Mineral Office.  
  • India joined the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) Finance Network to secure sustainable supply chains for critical minerals. 
  • In addition, India is leveraging Quad cooperation (India–US–Japan–Australia) and Indo-Pacific economic initiatives to diversify sourcing, secure off-take agreements, and reduce strategic import vulnerability. 

What are the Major Obstacles India Faces In Ensuring Access and Security Of Critical Minerals? 

• High Import Dependency: India is almost entirely import-dependent for minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel (100% import dependency in FY 2024).  
  • Global supply chains are highly concentrated, with China dominating refining and processing(with over 90% processing), exposing India to price shocks, export controls and geopolitical coercion. 
    • For instance, China’s 2025 export controls on rare-earth elements and permanent magnets have exposed India’s vulnerability due to its heavy import dependence. 
  • This situation is likely to continue as the, as per the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report,  India’s demand for critical minerals is expected to more than double by 2030. 
• Limited Domestic Exploration: India’s exploration intensity is low due to inadequate geoscientific data, limited private participation, and high exploration risk.  
  • Many potential reserves lie in ecologically sensitive or tribal regions, complicating mining approvals and operations. 
  • For example, only about 10% of India’s Obvious Geological Potential (OGP) has been explored, India spends less than 1% of global exploration expenditure, meaning many mineral deposits (including critical minerals) remain undiscovered or poorly assessed. 
• Weak Processing Capabilities: Even where minerals are available, India lacks downstream processing, separation, and refining capacity, especially for rare earths and battery-grade materials.  
  • This forces dependence on foreign value chains, undermining strategic autonomy. 
  • For instance, India has about 6.9 million tonnes of rare earth reserves ranking among the world’s top three, but its actual contribution to global rare earth production is below 1% because it currently lacks the capability to refine these minerals into the high-purity metals or alloys required for magnets and advanced technologies. 
• Resource Nationalism and Asymmetric Geopolitical Competition: Rising global demand has triggered resource nationalism, long-term off-take locking, and strategic stockpiling by major powers.  
  • India faces stiff competition from China, the US and the EU in accessing overseas mineral assets. 
    • Securing long-term "offtake agreements" is difficult when rival nations offer massive infrastructure-for-minerals deals that India, with its current fiscal constraints, struggles to match. 
  • For instance, Between 2018 and the first half of 2021, Chinese companies invested USD 4.3 billion to acquire lithium assets, twice the amount invested by companies from the United States, Australia and Canada combined during the same period. 
• Environmental-Social Conflicts: Critical mineral mining involves high ecological footprints, water stress and displacement risks. Balancing sustainability, and faster clearances remains a major governance challenge. 
  • For instance, globally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which accounts for about 70% of global cobalt supply, highlights serious ESG challenges in critical mineral mining.  
  • In India the proposed tungsten mining project at Nayakkarpatti near Madurai in Tamil Nadu triggered strong local protests due to concerns over groundwater depletion, damage to agricultural livelihoods and impacts on nearby biodiversity-rich areas.  
• Recycling Constraints: India lags in advanced extraction technologies, mineral substitution, and large-scale recycling (urban mining). Low recovery rates from e-waste limit the potential of circular economy solutions. 
  • India generates nearly 1.75 million tonnes of e-waste annually and about 60 kt of spent lithium-ion batteries, offering significant potential to recover critical minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel.  
  • However, due to limited large-scale and advanced recycling infrastructure, much of this recoverable resource remains untapped. 
• Commercial Risks: Overseas mining projects require high capital, long gestation periods, and face political risks in host countries. Limited risk appetite among Indian PSUs and private players constrains strategic investments. 
  • For instance, projects like the Adani Carmichael mine in Australia (though a coal mine) faced nearly a decade of delays due to prolonged legal battles over environmental clearances and local protests. 
• Extreme Price Volatility and Market Risk: The market for critical minerals is small and opaque compared to oil, making it prone to "predatory pricing" where dominant players can crash prices to make new Indian mining projects unviable. Without a "Price Floor" mechanism or guaranteed domestic offtake, private Indian firms are hesitant to commit the billions needed for long-term infrastructure. 
  • For instance, lithium prices crashed by nearly 80% between 2022 and 2024, despite long-term demand growth.  
  • Such volatility can render new mining projects commercially unviable, discouraging Indian private firms from committing large capital in the absence of price-floor mechanisms or assured domestic offtake. 

What Measures Needed to Future-proof India’s Critical Minerals Ecosystem? 

• From Resource Mapping to Discovery-Led Exploration: India must move beyond basic geological surveys to deep, technology-driven exploration using AI, hyperspectral imaging and 3-D geophysics.  
  • Opening high-quality geoscience data and de-risking early-stage exploration through state support can crowd-in private investment, as seen in Australia and Canada. 
• Build End-to-End Domestic Value Chains: Mining alone is insufficient. India must invest in processing, separation and refining, especially for rare earths and battery-grade materials, where China currently dominates.  
  • Targeted fiscal incentives, anchor-firm models and clustering near ports can help India move up the value chain. 
• Make Recycling a Strategic Mineral Source: Urban mining should be treated as a third pillar of mineral security alongside domestic mining and overseas assets.  
  • Scaling formal e-waste and battery recycling, adopting advanced hydrometallurgical technologies, and enforcing EPR can convert waste into a strategic resource. 
• Strengthen Overseas Mineral Security: India should pursue equity stakes, long-term offtake agreements and joint ventures in resource-rich regions like Africa, Latin America and Australia.  
  • Strengthening KABIL, offering sovereign guarantees and aligning with platforms like the Minerals Security Partnership will enhance competitiveness against China, the US and the EU. 
• Integrate ESG with Faster Clearances: Future readiness requires socially legitimate and environmentally responsible mining.  
  • Streamlining approvals while ensuring genuine consultation under Forest Right Act (FRA) and PESA , benefit-sharing with tribal communities and strong rehabilitation frameworks will reduce conflict and project delays. 
• Invest in R&D: India must reduce vulnerability by investing in alternative battery chemistries (sodium-ion, zinc-air), rare-earth substitution, and material efficiency.  
  • Linking Centres of Excellence with DRDO, academia and industry integration can drive strategic innovation. 
• Create Strategic Reserves: Just as crude oil reserves protect energy security, strategic stockpiles of lithium, cobalt and rare earths can shield India from supply disruptions, export controls and price volatility. 

Conclusion: 

Critical minerals constitute the infrastructure of the future, silently powering clean energy, digitalisation, and national security. For India, the challenge lies in balancing strategic security, environmental sustainability, and resource sovereignty while scaling access to these minerals. A calibrated approach—combining domestic capability, responsible mining, and global partnerships—aligns closely with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Such a strategy will not only advance the SDGs but also anchor India’s long-term strategic autonomy in a resource-constrained world. 

Drishti Mains Question How does India’s high import dependence on critical minerals affect its energy security and manufacturing competitiveness? Suggest a multi-pronged strategy to address these vulnerabilities.