Critical minerals, the foundation of strategic power
A recent analysis highlighted that critical mineral security has moved from being a sectoral policy concern to a central pillar of India's industrial and strategic planning.
The discussion notes that recent budgetary allocations mark a shift in India's approach from stating intent to actual implementation — with emphasis on domestic exploration, processing capacity, and value addition rather than raw extraction alone.
The analysis frames critical minerals as linking three policy goals simultaneously — the clean-energy transition, domestic manufacturing growth, and strategic/geopolitical autonomy from concentrated global supply chains.
Coordination between the Union government, State governments (which control mining leases under the Constitution), and industry is identified as the determining factor in converting India's mineral potential into actual industrial capacity.
National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM)
The NCMM is a Central Sector Mission approved by the Union Cabinet to build self-reliance in critical minerals essential for economic development, clean-energy technologies, and defence/strategic applications. It covers the entire value chain — exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, and recovery/recycling from end-of-life products.
Key Details
- Implemented by the Ministry of Mines over seven years, FY 2024-25 to FY 2030-31.
- Total outlay of about ₹16,300 crore from the Centre, alongside an expected ₹18,000 crore investment from PSUs and other stakeholders.
- Targets include roughly 1,200 domestic exploration projects and boosting domestic production of at least 15 critical minerals (e.g., lithium, graphite, potash, rare earth elements).
- Also aims to acquire overseas critical mineral assets and build a critical mineral recycling ecosystem.
The NCMM is the institutional vehicle referenced when policy discussions describe India's shift from "intent to implementation" on critical minerals — its funding and timelines are the concrete markers of that shift.
Legal Framework — MMDR Act, 1957 and the 2023 Amendment
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 is the principal law governing mineral concessions in India. The MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 (in force from 17 August 2023) empowered the Central Government — rather than State governments — to auction concessions for identified critical and strategic minerals listed in Part D of Schedule I, since these minerals were previously outside the Centre's exclusive auctioning power.
Key Details
- The 2023 amendment added six minerals (lithium, niobium, beryllium, titanium, tantalum, zirconium) to the list over which only the Centre can grant concessions.
- 24 minerals in total are now notified as critical and strategic minerals under Schedule I, Part D, auctionable by the Centre.
- A parallel amendment to the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 enabled auctioning of offshore mineral blocks.
- The Ministry of Mines separately released a list of 30 critical minerals for India in 2023 (distinct from — but overlapping with — the 24 minerals under Centre-led auction), covering items such as cobalt, copper, gallium, graphite, lithium, nickel, rare earth elements (REE), and tungsten.
These legal changes are what allow the Centre to conduct the critical mineral block auctions that underpin the NCMM's domestic production targets discussed in the article.
Overseas Acquisition and Global Partnerships
Because India has limited proven domestic reserves of several critical minerals (notably lithium and cobalt), the government pursues overseas acquisition and multilateral partnerships alongside domestic mining.
Key Details
- Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) is a joint venture of NALCO, Hindustan Copper Ltd, and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Ltd (MECL), created to identify, explore, and acquire critical mineral assets abroad (including lithium blocks in Argentina).
- India joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), a US-led plurilateral initiative (launched 2022) to build resilient critical minerals supply chains among partner countries and the European Union.
- The NCMM includes a target of building stakes in about 50 critical mineral mines/assets overseas over its mission period.
The article's framing of critical minerals as a matter of "strategic power" reflects this dual-track strategy — domestic production under MMDR/NCMM plus overseas acquisition via KABIL and MSP membership — reducing India's dependence on any single supplier country.
- NCMM outlay: approximately ₹16,300 crore (Centre) over FY2024-25 to FY2030-31, Ministry of Mines.
- MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 came into force on 17 August 2023; added 6 minerals to Centre-only auction list, taking the total to 24 critical/strategic minerals under Schedule I, Part D.
- Ministry of Mines' 2023 list identifies 30 critical minerals for India (e.g., lithium, cobalt, graphite, REE, nickel, copper, tungsten).
- KABIL is a NALCO-Hindustan Copper-MECL joint venture for overseas critical mineral acquisition.
- India is a member of the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), alongside about a dozen other countries and the European Union.