New Delhi: Coal India Limited (CIL) has executed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (CMDC), a Chhattisgarh state undertaking, for collaboration in the exploration and exploitation of critical minerals and other minerals of mutual interest. The company disclosed the development in a stock-exchange filing dated October 6, 2025.
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Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, rare earth elements and copper underpin clean-energy technologies — EV batteries, grid-scale storage, wind turbine magnets, solar PV, power electronics, and transmission infrastructure. India formally identified 30 critical minerals in 2023 based on economic importance and supply risk, signalling a strategy to secure inputs vital to decarbonisation and advanced manufacturing.
The MoU coincides with the government’s National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) launched in 2025, which gives the Centre a stronger hand — through amendments to the MMDR framework — in auctioning and fast-tracking exploration and mining of 24 of these priority minerals. The Mission tasks the Geological Survey of India with a large multi-year exploration programme (2024-25 to 2030-31) and aims to build a resilient value chain from exploration to processing and recycling.
Alongside domestic exploration, the government has also cleared a Rs 1,500-crore incentive scheme to promote critical-mineral recycling from secondary sources — intended to cut import dependence, improve supply-chain resilience and support the green transition.
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