Govt steps up focus on exploration of critical minerals
New Delhi: The central government has stepped up exploration and production of critical minerals in the country with number of licences given to find domestic deposits, union minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said on Monday. In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the government has released a list of 30 critical minerals for India and would focus on exploration and subsequent production of these.
The critical minerals list includes antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, PGE, phosphorous, potash, REE, rhenium, silicon, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, selenium and cadmium which have wide ranging industrial and commercial use. The mines ministry has increased focus on exploration of these minerals through Geological Survey of India (GSI) and other agencies, the minister said.
Starting from 2020-21 when there were only 59 projects in critical minerals, these have risen to 122 in FY24. A joint venture company Khanij Bidesh India Ltd.
(KABIL) has been incorporated with the equity contribution from three central public sector enterprises--National Aluminium Company Ltd, Hindustan Copper Ltd and Mineral Exploration Company Ltd--with the objective to identify and acquire overseas mineral assets of critical & strategic nature such as lithium, cobalt , among others, to ensure supply side assurance. KABIL also has engagements with countries like Argentina, Australia, among others, to acquire critical and strategic minerals assets.
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