Critical Minerals for India

• 04 Jul 2023

On 28th June 2023, Union Minister of Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs, unveiled the first-ever report on "Critical Minerals for India."

The key points are:

• Importance of Critical Minerals: Critical minerals are essential for economic development and national security. The lack of availability or concentration of extraction and processing in a few locations can lead to supply chain vulnerabilities and disruptions.
• These minerals play a crucial role in various sectors such as high-tech electronics, telecommunications, transport, defense, renewable energy, and the transition to a low-carbon emissions economy.
• Three-Stage Assessment: A three-stage assessment was conducted to arrive at a list of critical minerals. The first stage involved studying the critical minerals strategies of major global economies and considering 69 elements/minerals considered critical by countries like Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Japan, and South Korea.
• The second stage involved inter-ministerial consultations with relevant sectors to identify minerals critical to their domains.
• The third stage aimed to derive an empirical formula for identifying critical minerals by considering parameters like economic importance, supply risk, disruption potential, substitutability, import reliance, recycling rates, etc.
• List of Critical Minerals: Based on the three-stage assessment and important parameters such as resource/reserve position, production, import dependency, and future technology/clean energy requirements, the Committee identified a set of 30 critical minerals.
• These include Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE (Platinum Group Elements), Phosphorous, Potash, Rare Earth Elements (REE), Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium, and Cadmium.
• Centre of Excellence for Critical Minerals (CECM): The creation of a Centre of Excellence for Critical Minerals in the Ministry of Mines has been recommended.
• This center will be responsible for periodically updating the list of critical minerals, developing and implementing the critical mineral strategy, and facilitating the development of an effective value chain for critical minerals in the country.