New Delhi: India is set to launch a national mission for the critical and strategic minerals sector as the country looks to advance its journey towards a green energy transition and boost electric vehicle production capacity. While most of 2024 will be spent on ground work, next year is set to be a historic year for India’s minerals and mining sector. As the world races to secure critical minerals for renewable energy and emerging technologies, India is set to take center stage with the launch of its much-hyped Critical Minerals Mission in 2025.
This mission, a bold and collaborative effort, will unite ministries, industries, research and development institutions, and global think tanks in a common vision to secure a sustainable supply of minerals that will power tomorrow’s world.
With a series of high-profile roadshows abroad, including plans to acquire significant mineral assets in Australia, India is poised to attract international investors and make its mark on the global mining map.
Mines Secretary VL Kanth Rao highlighted the mission’s sense of unity and purpose, where government, industry and innovation work hand in hand to shape a future rich in opportunity and growth.
Rao told PTI: “In 2025 we will launch the Critical Minerals Mission. It will be a mission involving six to seven ministries, several industries, research and development organizations and think tanks.”
Rao explained: “Basically we have to advance the mission so that there is a whole-of-government approach. There is an approach where industry and all stakeholders, R&D, foreign acquisitions all work together.”
Realizing that critical minerals are the new lifeblood of the 21st century economy, countries are now racing to secure these vital resources, including lithium and cobalt, through a complex web of policies and alliances.
“2025 will also be important for us to handhold critical mineral successful bidders because they have just won. We need to handhold them. We need to find a faster process to start mining in critical mineral (blocks),” stressed the secretary.
So far, 24 important and strategic mineral blocks have been sold in the four stages of the auction.
According to World Bank estimates, production of minerals including lithium and cobalt will have to increase by nearly 500 percent by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy technology.
At the same time, the International Energy Agency estimates that growth in electric vehicles and battery storage will increase demand for these minerals at least 30-fold by 2040.
It’s not just about clean energy. Critical minerals are also the backbone of the semiconductor industry. As the country pushes to become a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing – a sector that is likely to reach one trillion dollars globally by 2030 – the need for a steady supply of the critical minerals becomes even more urgent.
Semiconductors, the tiny chips that power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, rely heavily on materials like silicon, cobalt, and rare earth elements in addition to access to technology.
Without a secure supply of these minerals, the country’s dream of becoming a major player in the global chip industry may be a long way off.
India has also set up a joint venture company called Minerals Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) with the objective of identifying, exploring, acquiring, developing, mining, processing, purchasing and selling strategic minerals in addition to auctioning its domestic important mineral wealth. To secure flexible supply of these minerals to the Indian domestic industry abroad.
To achieve its objective, Kabil is currently exploring opportunities for acquisition of foreign critical mineral assets such as lithium and cobalt, involving equity contributions from three central public sector enterprises, National Aluminum Company Limited, Hindustan Copper Limited, and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited. and initiating projects in countries such as Australia.
Rao further said that India is also looking at acquiring significant mineral assets in Australia.
To strengthen the country’s mineral wealth, with the significant increase in demand for critical minerals, especially for lithium, the government launched the first auction of offshore mineral exploration blocks and offered 13 mines.
Giving more information, the secretary said that the government is planning to hold many road shows on offshore mining in the coming year.
“We have some new bidders for offshore mining. We have to do a lot of roadshows (on offshore mining). The feedback I got today is that there are a lot of people who need to be connected. Say some Norwegian company. …There are some researchers. All those have to be combined and then we need to do more roadshows to make this auction a success,” Rao stressed.
Important minerals are gaining more importance because of their role in everything from electronic chips to solar panels. We see this as an opportunity. India has more reserves of rare earths than Australia and Canada. Encouraging sustainable and high-tech exploration will be key to harnessing its true potential, and the private sector can contribute its expertise and scale to enable this.
Anil Aggarwal, chairman of mining group Vedanta Ltd, said critical minerals have gained more importance because of their role in everything from electronic chips to solar panels.
“We see this as an opportunity. India has larger rare earth deposits than Australia and Canada. Encouraging sustainable and high-tech exploration will be key to harnessing its true potential, and the private sector can contribute its expertise and scale to enable this,” he said. said
Critical minerals will be essential for the country’s economic growth, job creation and reduction of import dependency.
“In 2025, industry, government and other stakeholders will work together to encourage growth in the natural resources and mining sector – its key to sustainable economic progress and global leadership,” Agrawal said.
Arun Mishra, CEO of Hindustan Zinc, an integrated miner and resource producer of zinc, lead and silver, said that looking ahead to 2025, the Indian metals and mining sector is poised for strong growth, with rapid infrastructure development and evolving regulatory frameworks that aim to streamline operations. .
As India moves towards becoming a five trillion dollar economy, the metals and mining sector will meet international standards and meet domestic demand as well.
“The global shift towards clean energy has increased the demand for critical minerals and India is following suit, with the nation on track to become the world’s third largest economy. The nation is focusing on critical minerals needed for the energy transition. Metals such as zinc, silver, cobalt, and others are becoming indispensable, zinc will play an important role in the steel, infrastructure, automotive and sunrise sectors,” he explained.
Looking ahead, Sunil Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, Vedanta Aluminum said, “As we embrace a favorable policy landscape that fosters innovation and value addition, enabling us to meet the evolving needs of a sustainable world. 2025 holds great promise.”
Crucial to green technologies such as electric mobility, renewable energy, and high-tech manufacturing, aluminum has seen strong demand growth globally.
“Our domestic industry, with its sound resource base and innovative capabilities, is poised to meet growing global demand, strengthen exports and emerge as a credible alternative to major traditional supplier countries like China,” he added.