By Nethra Sailesh
On Wednesday, the Government of India announced the allocation of Rs 16,300 crore for the National Critical Mineral Mission. The mission approved by the Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Modi, is one step forward to reaching an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The mission includes all mineral production and distribution stages, ranging from exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, and recovery from end-of-life products. In a press conference, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that this initiative will reduce India’s dependency on imports and will help the country become self-reliant in this domain.
The mission aims to boost mineral exploration onshore and offshore, streamline regulatory approvals, and introduce financial initiatives. It also promotes mineral recovery from mining waste and encourages PSUs and private firms to acquire mineral assets abroad to enhance trade with resource-rich nations.
The mission also has an environmental angle and will make provisions for mineral processing parks as well as incorporate a recycling technology for critical minerals.
Furthermore, it also entails boosting research centres and setting up a Centre of Excellence on Critical Minerals.
In the statement by the Ministry of Mines, they added that the entire mission will take a “whole of government” approach, which involves multiple government ministries, PSUs, private companies and agencies, and research institutions to achieve the goals.
This initiative and plans are not new. The government in the past has also made numerous efforts to boost this sector. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is carrying out 195 projects for critical minerals in the financial year 2024-2025. For the next financial year, GSI will undertake 227 exploration projects. Moreover, the government also started the Science and Technology—Promotion of Research and Innovation in Start-ups and MSMEs (S&T PRISM) program in 2023. On a global level, KABIL, which is a joint venture company of the Ministry of Mines, has over 15,000 hectares of land in the Catamarca province of Argentina for exploration and mining of lithium. In the 2024-2025 Union Budget, the government eliminated customs
duties on the majority of the critical minerals. These plans show India’s commitment to becoming self-sufficient in this sector.