India, US commit to deepen relationship in critical minerals, other areas
India's Finance Minister and the US Treasury Secretary met on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held in Asheville, North Carolina.
Both sides committed to deepening bilateral relations, with critical minerals supply chains identified as a priority area.
India's role and participation in G7-led critical minerals dialogues to secure supply chains was acknowledged.
The Indian side extended an invitation for the next round of the India-US Economic and Financial Partnership dialogue to be held in New Delhi later in the year.
The exchange comes ahead of the United States hosting the G20 Leaders' Summit later in 2026.
Critical Minerals and India's National Critical Mineral Mission
Critical minerals are minerals essential for economic development and national security whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption, typically due to geographic concentration of production or processing (often in a single country). They underpin clean energy technologies (batteries, EVs, wind turbines), electronics, and defence manufacturing.
Key Details
- India notified a list of 30 critical minerals in 2023 (including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, rare earth elements, and platinum-group elements), based on economic importance and supply-risk criteria.
- The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 (effective 17 August 2023) removed several critical/strategic minerals from the list of minerals reserved for government-only exploration, opening private-sector participation, and introduced a Schedule-I Part D list of 24 critical and strategic minerals for auction.
- The Union Cabinet approved the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) in January 2025, covering 2024-25 to 2030-31 with a planned outlay of about Rs 16,300 crore, aimed at domestic exploration, processing, recycling, and overseas asset acquisition.
- India joined the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) as its 14th member in June 2023 — a US-led grouping (with Australia, Canada, Japan, the EU, and several G7 states among its members) to catalyse investment across critical mineral value chains; India is the only developing-country member.
The India-US commitment on critical minerals builds directly on India's MSP membership and its domestic NCMM framework, positioning India as a supply-chain partner (both as a market and a potential processing hub) for Western efforts to reduce reliance on any single dominant global supplier of processed critical minerals.
G7, G20 and Multilateral Economic Coordination
The G7 (Group of Seven — US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, plus the EU) and G20 (Group of Twenty — the G7 plus emerging economies including India, China, Brazil, and others, plus the African Union and EU) are the principal informal forums for coordinating global macroeconomic and, increasingly, strategic resource policy. India is not a G7 member but has been a regular invitee to G7 summits and G7-format ministerial dialogues, including on critical minerals.
Key Details
- India held the G20 Presidency in 2023, hosting the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration and securing permanent African Union membership in the G20.
- The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors track is one of two core G20 workstreams (the other being the Sherpa/leaders' track), meeting periodically through each presidency year.
- The United States holds the G20 Presidency for 2026, ahead of hosting the G20 Leaders' Summit later that year.
- India has been invited to G7-led critical minerals ministerial dialogues (alongside countries like Australia) as part of efforts to widen supply-chain coordination beyond G7 membership itself.
The Asheville meeting sits within the G20 finance track under the US presidency, and reflects India's positioning as a bridge between G7-led critical mineral security initiatives and the broader G20/Global South agenda it championed during its own 2023 presidency.
- India's list of 30 critical minerals was notified in 2023, including 17 rare earth elements and 6 platinum-group elements.
- MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 took effect on 17 August 2023.
- India joined the Mineral Security Partnership as its 14th member in June 2023.
- The National Critical Mineral Mission (approved January 2025) runs 2024-25 to 2030-31 with an outlay of about Rs 16,300 crore.
- India held the G20 Presidency in 2023; the United States holds the G20 Presidency in 2026.