India, Uzbekistan step up mining cooperation, eye critical minerals
India and Uzbekistan agreed to deepen cooperation in the mining sector, with a memorandum of understanding signed covering geology and mineral resources
Discussions focused on critical minerals and uranium exploration opportunities, with both sides exploring rapid implementation of the new MoU
Agricultural collaboration was agreed to expand into seed production and drip irrigation
Agricultural research and extension centres of both countries are cooperating in these areas
India's Critical Minerals List and the MMDR Act, 2023 Amendment
India formalised a list of "critical minerals" only recently, and the legal mechanism to bring them under central government control is a distinct, testable amendment to India's core mining law.
Key Details
- A Ministry of Mines committee (constituted November 2022) identified 30 minerals as critical for India, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements (REE), graphite, titanium, tungsten, and copper
- The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 inserted 24 of these 30 minerals into Part D of the First Schedule of the MMDR Act, 1957, giving the Union government exclusive authority to auction mining leases and composite licences for them (previously a state subject for most minerals)
- The 2023 amendment also introduced a new "exploration licence" category for deep-seated and critical minerals, permitting private exploration agencies to bid for reconnaissance and prospecting rights
- A recommended Centre of Excellence on Critical Minerals (CECM) is meant to periodically review and update the list
The mining MoU with Uzbekistan — a country with commercially significant lithium, tungsten, copper, and rare earth deposits — is an overseas-sourcing complement to this 2023 domestic legal reform, since India's own critical mineral reserves remain limited relative to demand.
KABIL and India's Overseas Critical Mineral Asset Strategy
Beyond auctioning domestic blocks, India runs a dedicated state vehicle to acquire critical mineral assets abroad — the mechanism through which agreements like the Uzbekistan MoU are typically operationalised into actual supply or equity stakes.
Key Details
- Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) was incorporated in 2019 as a joint venture of three public sector undertakings — National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited (MECL) — in an approximate 40:30:30 equity split, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Mines
- KABIL's mandate is to identify and acquire overseas mineral assets, chiefly lithium and cobalt, on a government-to-government or commercial basis, and has pursued exploration agreements in countries including Argentina and Australia
- The National Critical Mineral Mission (Cabinet-approved January 2025) works alongside KABIL, with a multi-year outlay aimed at domestic exploration, overseas asset acquisition, recycling, and offshore mineral exploration
- More than 100 critical mineral blocks are planned for auction domestically under the Mission, in parallel with overseas engagement of the kind agreed with Uzbekistan
Bilateral mining MoUs such as this one are the diplomatic groundwork on which KABIL-style asset acquisition or joint exploration ventures are typically built, reflecting India's two-track critical minerals strategy — auction more at home, acquire more abroad.
Micro-Irrigation Policy Context for the Drip Irrigation Cooperation
The agricultural component of the announcement — drip irrigation cooperation — maps onto India's own domestic micro-irrigation policy architecture, useful for distinguishing scheme names and their current administrative home.
Key Details
- "Per Drop More Crop" (PDMC), the micro-irrigation (drip and sprinkler) component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY, launched 1 July 2015), promoted water-use efficiency at the farm level
- From 2022-23, the micro-irrigation component was moved out of PMKSY and is now implemented under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) umbrella scheme
- India's micro-irrigation coverage remains a fraction of its total irrigated area, making technology and best-practice exchange with other arid/semi-arid agricultural economies like Uzbekistan (a major cotton and horticulture producer reliant on irrigation) practically relevant
- Seed production cooperation intersects with India's Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001, which grants breeders exclusive rights to produce, sell, and distribute registered varieties while separately protecting farmers' rights to save and exchange farm-saved seed
The agricultural cooperation announced sits alongside — but is administratively distinct from — India's own evolving micro-irrigation scheme architecture, and the seed-production component would operate within the registration and rights framework of the 2001 Act if commercial varieties are exchanged.
- Critical minerals identified for India: 30 (Ministry of Mines committee, November 2022); 24 placed under central auction control via Part D of the MMDR Act, 1957 (as amended in 2023)
- KABIL incorporated: 2019; JV of NALCO, HCL, and MECL (approx. 40:30:30 stake)
- National Critical Mineral Mission: Cabinet-approved January 2025
- Uzbekistan's mineral resource base includes rare earth elements, lithium, tungsten, copper, molybdenum, uranium, gold, silver, and graphite
- PMKSY launched: 1 July 2015; its micro-irrigation ("Per Drop More Crop") component shifted to RKVY from 2022-23
- Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act enacted: 2001 (presidential assent 30 October 2001)
- India-Uzbekistan annual bilateral trade target: USD 5 billion by 2030