Now is the time to prepare a Critical Minerals Policy for India: Mines Secretary

New Delhi: Stressing the importance of critical minerals for India and the need to achieve self-sufficiency, Mines Secretary VL Kantha Rao said on Monday that now is the time to crystallise India’s plans for critical minerals into a critical minerals policy or mission. “Now is the time when we need to crystallise all this into a single document and call it a critical mineral policy or mission,” said the Mines Secretary. He was speaking at the opening session of the two-day Critical Minerals Summit at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. The summit is focussed on ‘Enhancing Beneficiation and Processing Capabilities.’ Rao urged participants at the summit to brainstorm and make suggestions for the policy document.

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“We plan to look for critical minerals under the earth, under the sea, but we badly need them. The market for critical minerals is going to be the fourth-largest and we need to look for them within the country. We need to also ensure that we have good tie-ups internationally and we have a good supply chain uninterrupted from wherever we are getting these critical minerals,” said Rao.

Quoting a research paper prepared by CEEW, along with other partners, for India’s G20 presidency, CEEW CEO Arunabha Ghosh said at the opening session, “There is extreme degrees of concentration in the critical minerals sector. Around 15 countries account for between 70-90 percent of the production of minerals. And the concentration of countries that process minerals is even higher. In the processing of minerals, three countries account for 98 percent of Lithium processing, 65 percent of Nickel processing, 90 percent of Cobalt processing and 100 percent of Rare Earth elements processing.”

Stating that the challenges being discussed at various multi-lateral forums in the critical mineral industry have been the same, Ghosh said, “It’s not just about mining or adding more sources where mining could occur, it’s also about adding value to what is being mined. This is the critical node that India can serve. India already plays a role in terms of the large demand that is expected to emanate from here. But from the supply side as well, India can serve as an important, critical node in the more diversified supply chains of processing and adding value to the minerals. On top of that, there is the potential, much untapped so far, of the circular economy of critical minerals as well.”

India launched its first-ever auction of critical mineral blocks in November last year and put up 20 blocks on auction. India is also engaged bilaterally with Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Australia, the US and countries in Africa for collaboration in acquiring mining assets abroad and technologies for exploration and processing. The processing industry for critical minerals is extremely concentrated among three countries, with China accounting for most of it.

The International Energy Agency estimates that by 2040, Lithium demand will go up 42 times, Cobalt 22 times, Nickel nearly 20 times, and Rare Earth minerals about seven times in comparison to 2020. India does not have large reserves of critical minerals, which is why, along with placing a lot of emphasis on exploration and mining of critical minerals within the country, it is also scouting for critical mineral assets abroad. As India pursues renewable energy expansion and energy security, it is also looking to put in place a critical minerals processing industry with help from international technology providers and domestic equipment manufacturers.

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