India taps Africa, Latin America to shore up critical mineral supply
Latin America to secure critical mineral blocks on a government-to-government basis, Veena Kumari Dermal, joint secretary in the mines ministry, said on Tuesday.
Critical minerals like lithium are crucial in driving energy transition as they are essential for clean energy technologies, including wind and electric vehicles. Currently, New Delhi is heavily reliant on imports for its critical mineral supply.
«We are having lots of discussions with many resource-rich countries in Africa as well as in Latin America for getting a block on a priority basis or government-to-government basis,» said Dermal.
She added that if any private Indian company is interested in investing in such blocks overseas, the mines ministry will try to enlist support from the external affairs ministry to ensure all support for bringing the blocks into production.
Dermal was speaking at the India Energy Storage Week 2024 organised by the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) in New Delhi.
«We have reached out to the embassies of India in countries like Chile, Peru, Argentina, or in African countries to contact the mineral departments and we are getting a lot of feedback from such countries to the extent that (information on) any new developments in the mining sector in such countries is being shared with our ministry,» Dermal said.
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