India’s critical minerals mission: India’s critical minerals sector is on a strong growth trajectory aligned with rising global demand for minerals that are essential to today’s fastest-growing energy technologies — from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles. India’s ambition to achieve energy independence and reduce reliance on imports from China, which currently dominates the global critical minerals market, further reinforces this momentum.
Beyond renewable energy, critical minerals are vital to national security and form key components of defense systems. India’s electronics and semiconductor industries depend on them for chip manufacturing, batteries, and communication devices. The automobile and electric vehicle sectors rely on these minerals for electrical components. Infrastructure and steel industries depend on critical minerals like vanadium and nickel for durable construction material, while the aerospace and space sectors use them for satellites and aircraft. The healthcare industry requires them for medical imaging, radiation therapy, and pharmaceuticals, and India’s digital transformation including its 5G and fiber-optic roll out substantially relies on rare earth elements.
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The Government of India (GOI) is focused on scaling up domestic mining and processing of critical minerals for building a robust “Atmanirbhar Bharat” in this space.
India’s critical minerals mission
In January 2025, India’s Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the launch of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), a landmark initiative aimed at securing a steady supply of critical minerals for the country’s economic growth and technological advancement with a direct government expenditure of Rs. 16,300 crore (part of a broader 7-year, Rs. 34,300 crores total financial outlay) and an additional investment of Rs 18,000 crores by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). A new Tailings Policy is also being implemented to extract critical minerals like gallium, tellurium, and selenium from overburden dumps and tailings, maximising resource utilisation from existing mining operations — a welcome move for Indian recyclers and processors.
To expand exploration and mining activity, the GOI has a plan to undertake 1,200 exploration projects between 2024 and 2031. The Geological Survey of India carried out 195 exploration projects for critical and strategic minerals in FY25 and 230 in FY26, an 18% increase. As of June 2026, the Ministry of Mines has successfully auctioned 56 critical mineral blocks and 11 exploration license blocks since introduction of the exploration license regime. The harder step after auctioning is converting a geological resource into a commercially viable mine and processing ecosystem.
To integrate AI into mineral exploration, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and IndiaAI have launched the ‘AI for Mineral Targeting’ Hackathon, aiming to identify new potential exploration areas for rare earth elements, nickel, and copper across a 39,000 sq. km area spanning Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. This initiative reflects India’s growing capability in home-grown deep-tech applications.
The GOI recognises that domestic mineral production alone will not meet India’s needs. By 2031, only about 10% of India’s annual demand for critical minerals is expected to be met domestically. That projection should determine policy priorities. Faster clearances can shorten some delays, but exemptions cannot alter geology or make a poor deposit commercially viable. It also demands scrutiny of water use, waste disposal and the impact of mining on nearby communities. A mineral project stalled by litigation or local resistance supplies nothing.
One of NCMM’s key objectives is to help Indian companies acquire overseas mineral assets and expand India’s global partnerships and cooperation frameworks.
Collaborative efforts include sharing best practices, joint research and development, and exploring opportunities for sustainable mining and processing. KABIL has made some progress by signing an MoU for the exploration and development of 5 brine-type lithium blocks in Catamarca, Argentina.
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Recently, India and the United States announced the Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership and Accelerated Commerce and Technology (COMPACT) initiative for the 21st century, which will drive transformative cooperation underpinned by the strategic importance of critical minerals for emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing. India joined the US-led Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, or FORGE, in February 2026 and is pursuing mineral assets in countries including Argentina.
India joined the Pax Silica coalition, a US led coalition aimed at building a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven silicon and Artificial Intelligence (AI) supply chain ecosystem through deep cooperation with trusted global partners, and February 2026 marking a significant milestone in the strengthening of strategic technology and supply chain cooperation.
The ‘Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths’ agreement with USA seeks to build resilient and diversified supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths that are essential for advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies. The Framework builds on the strategic vision outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump in February 2025 and complements ongoing bilateral initiatives such as FORGE, the Pax Silica initiative, and the India-US AI Opportunity Partnership, reflecting the growing importance of critical minerals in the broader India-US strategic partnership.
Such agreements are useful when they secure equity, offtake rights or access to processing technology. Diplomatic declarations without bankable projects merely add another forum to the calendar.
Over the past two years, the GOI has launched several initiatives to address challenges in the critical minerals sector, focusing on beneficiation, processing, and recovery from end-of-life products under the NCMM. The mission includes setting up processing parks, recycling critical minerals, and encouraging investment in advanced recycling technologies — particularly “urban mining” of e-waste — despite the current lack of dedicated recycling yards in India.
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Critical mineral recycling today is concentrated in informal scrap markets (78%), extracting valuable metals from e-waste largely through informal networks. Some reports suggest that India will generate about 6.19 million tons of e-waste in 2026 up from 2.76 million tons in 2020, which will go up to 14 million tons by 2030. We have only recycled 10% of our total e-waste till now which is far less than the 22% global average. India needs to formalise and scale this sector, standardising recycling infrastructure and deploying technologies such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and bioleaching at scale needed to efficiently extract critical minerals from complex waste streams.
The Union Cabinet approved a ₹1,500 crore incentive scheme in September 2025 covering e-waste, used lithium-ion batteries and end-of-life vehicle scrap. It aims to create 270,000 tons of annual recycling capacity and recover 40,000 tons of critical minerals. The larger mission seeks to recycle 10 per cent of annual consumption by 2031.
Under the NCMM, Rs 100 crores have been allocated for pilot projects focused on recovery of critical minerals from sources such as overburden, steel slag, tailings, fly ash, and red mud. The coal-derived fly ash and bottom ash samples and overburden clay samples have been analysed for trace elements and Rare Earth Elements (REE) (2100 mg/kg) comprising both light & heavy REE.
The elimination of customs duties on most critical minerals in the FY26 Union Budget is a welcome move that will ease imports of critical minerals into the country, benefiting Indian downstream manufacturers. Union Budget FY27 announced Dedicated Rare Earth Corridors in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu for mining, processing, research, and manufacturing of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs) with a goal to create 6,000 MTPA integrated REPM capacity.
With the right strategies, policy support, and partnerships, India can develop dependable supplies, processing capacity in selected minerals and enough recycling to reduce exposure when trade is disrupted. The government’s focus is on all three. Its spending and administrative attention may shift towards recycling and processing for early results as exploration and mining will take its own time as has been the experience with other minerals.
Dr Pankaj Satija is Chairperson – ICC National Expert Committee on Minerals & Metals. The views expressed in this article are of the author and not necessarily those of the organisations he is associated with.
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Dr Pankaj Satija is Executive Vice President - Corporate Affairs, JSW. The views expressed in this article are of the author and not necessarily those of the company he is associated with.