Cabinet approves critical minerals mission with Rs 16,300 crore outlay

With Rs 3,000 crore budgeted for the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) and

Rs 4,000 crore for the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the NCMM targets 1,200 home captious mineral exploration projects till 2030-31. The Ministry of Mines besides aims to auction implicit 100 captious mineral blocks by then.

A boost successful exploration of captious minerals volition supply imaginable investors with cardinal information connected reserves, which successful crook volition summation involvement and information successful auctions. Till now, GSI has undertaken 368 exploration projects implicit the past 3 years, with 195 projects presently underway, and the mines ministry has auctioned disconnected 24 captious mineral blocks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the NCMM arsenic a “major measurement towards self-reliance” successful captious minerals. “The Union Cabinet’s determination connected National Critical Mineral Mission volition promote India’s high-tech, cleanable energy, defence and different cardinal industries,” helium posted connected X.

Under the mission, an further Rs 5,600 crore is allocated to the NMET to concern hazard sum for overseas sourcing and to enactment exploration activities extracurricular India. The mines ministry seeks to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act to alteration the NMET to money the projected activities of the mission. Announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman successful past year’s Union Budget, the ngo aims to fortify India’s captious minerals worth concatenation by gathering a technological, regulatory, and fiscal ecosystem to guarantee mineral availability from some home and overseas sources. The ngo is acceptable to boost entree to earthy materials utilized crossed strategical sectors, from cleanable vigor and electronics to defence and agriculture.

NCMM volition person Rs 1,000 crore from the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) and different R&D schemes, and Rs 2,600 crore successful budgetary support. In a gathering with officials from the Department of Economic Affairs successful November, the mines ministry had projected outer backing for the NCMM done the World Bank’s Resilient and Inclusive Supply-Chain Enhancement (RISE) initiative. As of February 2024, lone $50 cardinal person been pledged arsenic archetypal contributions to the RISE initiative, with Japan contributing $25 cardinal and the remaining from different countries, including Canada, Germany, Italy, the Republic of Korea, and the UK.

Through the past year, the mines ministry led stakeholder consultations to make the mission’s framework, including a nationalist seminar successful August wherever it identified cardinal areas of support, including a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) strategy for mineral recycling aviator projects. The ngo envisages an inducement strategy for mineral recycling to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore targeting 400 kilotonnes (kt) of recycled material, which volition beryllium prepared successful consultation with the Ministry of Finance. Under the mission, cardinal PSUs and their associated ventures volition beryllium expected to invest

Rs 18,000 crore. These see Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL), Coal India Ltd, National Mineral Development Corporation, NTPC Mining Ltd, Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Ltd, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Indian Rare Earth Ltd,  Oil India Ltd, and ONGC Ltd. NCMM besides targets the acquisition of 50 captious mineral mines abroad, by some PSUs and backstage companies. So far, KABIL, nether the mines ministry, has acquired implicit 15,000 hectares successful Argentina’s Catamarca state for the exploration of lithium.

“The Government of India volition motivate Central PSUs and promote backstage assemblage companies to allocate funds for acquiring captious mineral assets overseas, empowering Central PSUs, their associated ventures, and subsidiaries to put overseas by issuing indispensable guidelines,” according to a enactment connected the mission.

As portion of the mission, the authorities besides plans to make 4 mineral processing parks and hole abstracted guidelines for the recycling of captious minerals, with a absorption connected streamlining India’s monolithic informal recycling sector. NCMM besides seeks to beforehand Critical Minerals Partnership Agreements with resource-rich countries and to integrate chapters connected captious minerals successful existing bilateral commercialized agreements with countries of interest.

“The ngo is besides an invitation for planetary partnerships and planetary concern opportunities. India has already taken important steps successful this direction, with agreements signed with Argentina, Zambia, and the United States, among others. These partnerships are captious for diversifying proviso chains and securing entree to mineral-rich regions,” Union Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said. The ngo volition beryllium coordinated by an Empowered Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.