First Ever Report On “Critical Minerals for India” Unveiled
Recently, the Ministry of Mines has released the country’s first report on “Critical Minerals for India”, prepared by an expert team constituted by the Ministry.
This is the first time that India has identified a comprehensive list of critical minerals keeping in view the requirements of sectors such as defence, agriculture, energy, pharmaceutical, telecommunication etc.
The report defines a critical mineral as one whose supply may be at risk in the future, and which has a (relatively) greater impact on the economy than other raw materials.
30 Critical Minerals:
- There are a total of 30 critical minerals for India: antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, PGE, phosphorus, potash, rare earth elements, rhenium, silicon, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, selenium and cadmium. These are essential for the country’s economic development and national security.
- While elements such as cobalt, nickel and lithium are needed for batteries used in electric vehicles or cellphones, rare earth elements are important, in trace amounts, in semiconductor and high-end electronics manufacturing.
- Most of the countries in the world have identified important minerals as per their national priorities and future requirements.
Initiatives of India:
- India has become the newest participant in the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) to strengthen critical minerals supply chains.
- Geological Survey of India carried out G3 stage mineral exploration (much advanced) during field season 2020-21 and 2021-22 in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir and estimated lithium ore resource of 5.9 million tonnes. ,
- Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) has been mandated to identify, and acquire overseas mineral assets of Lithium, Cobalt and other critical and strategic nature to ensure their supply.
Source – PIB
