Context
In the recent 2024-25 Union Budget presented in India, the Critical Mineral Mission was proposed to boost India’s capability in terms of critical mineral supply and production across different industries such as technology and defence, renewable energy and infrastructure. Being home to approximately 30% of the world’s confirmed critical minerals, Africa is, therefore, well-placed to help attain the vision of the mission.
Understanding Critical Minerals
Definition and Importance
Critical minerals are therefore those that are important in the development of the economy and to the security of a nation. They play an important role in the manufacture of high technology products, renewable energy technologies and defense systems. The Government of India has listed 30 strategic and soon to be strategic metals for the country’s development and technology such as lithium, cobalt, rare earths etc.
Challenges in Securing Critical Minerals
India faces significant challenges in securing a stable supply of these minerals, primarily due to:
- Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: The focus of such minerals’ supply from several countries results in possible disruptions of supply.
- Limited Domestic Production: India at present is very much backward in producing such materials and carries out mostly imports.
The Critical Mineral Mission
Objectives of the Mission
The Critical Mineral Mission aims to:
- Boost Domestic Production: Enhancement of exploration and mining activities so as to increase the output of critical minerals.
- Secure International Supplies: Acquire long-term supply contracts with resource-rich countries especially in the African region.
- Reduce Import Dependency: Diversify its supply sources through the acquisition of domestic capabilities, and look for overseas mineral deposits.
Key Components
The mission encompasses several strategic initiatives:
- Exploration and Acquisition: India is signining deals with the African nations to venture and buy key metallic ores.
- Investment in Technology: Stress is laid on the issues of increasing the technological level of extraction and subsequent processing of minerals, improving the domestic potentialities.
- International Collaboration: India is now negotiating with countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe among others to get the supply of critical minerals in the long run.
Africa’s Role in India’s Critical Mineral Mission
Abundant Resources
Africa also possesses a lot of important minerals that makes it an ally to India. Key minerals available in Africa include:
- Lithium: Cathode materials for batteries utilized in electric cars and renewable power storage systems.
- Cobalt: An essential component of lithium-ion batteries used primarily in South Africa and primarily imported in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Rare Earth Elements: Applied in different fields of cutting-edge, such as military and clean-tech innovations industries.
Strategic Partnerships
India established good relations and cooperation with many African countries which may help the country advance its Critical Mineral Mission. Opportunities for collaboration include:
- Bilateral Agreements: Exploring negotiation of government to government arrangements for the development of the critical minerals.
- Investment in Local Mining Operations: African mining industry can be acquired by Indian firms, as they inject capital and technology into the business as well as receive access to critical resources.
- Capacity Building: India can add value to African countries both in building the local mining capacity as well as contributing positively to the African economy as well as ensuring its access to minerals.
Current Initiatives
- India has already started negotiations with many of the African countries to acquire strategic mineral assets.
- The Ministry of Mines is most imperatively pursuing governments from Africa to establish mutually beneficial relations.
- For instance, India signed memoranda of understanding with Zambia and Zimbabwe for cooperation on geological map and mineral deposit modeling.
Benefits of Collaboration
- Economic Growth: Partnership between India and African nations can prove to be fruitful in generating much required Economic gains:
- Job Creation: Some of the benefits that may result from investments in mining operations include; provision of employment opportunities in India and Africa that may otherwise be difficult to obtain.
- Technology Transfer: India may think of this as an opportunity to use its technological experience in the mining and mineral processing demonstration in Africa to boost the capabilities of African countries.
- Diversification of Supply Chains: In this way, resources can be secured from Africa and this would help in diversifying the supply chain to make them more robust.
- Environmental Sustainability: The kind of collaboration that may occur can also be in matters to do with conserving the environment during the mining process. India can help African states in adopting sustainable methods of mining so that the exploitation of minerals has no consequences on the balance of the environment.
Source: The Hindu