Coal India Ltd eyes lithium, rare earth mines from govt

livemint.com:

Coal India Ltd (CIL) plans to acquire rare earth and critical mineral mines including lithium directly from the government, in addition to bidding for Jammu & Kashmir’s lithium reserves in upcoming auctions. “Coal India is looking to directly take certain rare earth mines. Given that it is a PSU, it can apply for certain mines directly.

And it is also expected to take part in the (J&K) auctions," said a person aware of the developments. The company would be able to apply for mines reserved for government companies or corporations. In both the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, provisions have been made to grant mineral concessions without competitive bidding to government companies on payment of such amount as may be prescribed by the Centre for such reserved areas.

Queries mailed to CIL remained unanswered till press time. The company’s plans to foray into domestic critical mineral assets comes with the government’s new focus in the segment. CIL has already been looking into acquisition opportunities for critical mineral mines abroad.

In its annual report for FY23, the company had said: “We are exploring the acquisition of lithium, cobalt, and nickel assets abroad and have amended our Memorandum of Association (MoA) to include non-ferrous and critical minerals. We are currently identifying suitable overseas assets for mergers and acquisitions." On prospects of acquisition of foreign critical mineral assets, another person said on the condition of anonymity that CIL is having deliberations with prospective overseas partners and agreements are expected soon. India is a net importer of critical minerals and in a bid to boost domestic mining, the