Critical minerals — lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth elements — underpin the clean energy transition and defence manufacturing, making their secure supply a strategic imperative for India's economic and geopolitical interests.
India joined the US-led Minerals Security Partnership in 2023, signalling its intent to integrate into trusted global supply chains for critical minerals. MSP membership facilitates investment coordination, technical cooperation, and diversification away from single-source dependencies, particularly for minerals where China dominates processing.
India has identified 30 critical minerals essential for strategic sectors, but it is not self-sufficient across all of them. While India holds significant reserves of minerals such as mica and iron ore, it is heavily import-dependent for lithium, cobalt, and nickel. This asymmetry necessitates both domestic exploration and international partnerships.
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 empowered the Central Government to exclusively auction mining leases and composite licences for specified critical minerals, overriding the earlier state-centric framework. This centralisation aims to accelerate exploration, attract large-scale investment, and ensure strategic oversight over minerals vital to national security.
Translating legislative reform into operational outcomes requires resolving land acquisition complexities, environmental clearance timelines, and capacity gaps in the Geological Survey of India. Without strengthening downstream processing infrastructure, raw mineral extraction alone will not reduce import vulnerability in value-added segments.
India's critical minerals strategy — combining MSP membership, legislative centralisation, and domestic exploration — is directionally sound, but sustained investment in processing capacity and geological mapping will determine whether policy intent translates into genuine supply security.
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