Pax Silica snub: India must develop its own mineral reserves, says Jindal

Days after a US-led 'Pax Silica initiative' excluded India from the rare earths alliance, JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal on Friday called for increased focus on domestic exploration of minerals.

Jindal, who leads the $23 billion conglomerate having interests in steel and also electric vehicles, said India has sufficient reserves of rare earths.

"We have a lot of rare earth in our country. We have not worked on it very diligently. So therefore, we have not explored the rare earth mineral wealth in our country," he said.

"But now, after the shock we got from China, I think the country is sincerely working to see that we develop our rare earths," Jindal added.

On the country's exclusion from the Pax Silica initiative, he suggested that developing our own strengths is the way forward.

"India has to develop its own. Atmanirbhar Bharat is a very important aspect and we have to (work)," Jindal told reporters on the sidelines of the World Hindu Economic Forum here.

It can be noted that the US is leading the initiative focused on securing the artificial intelligence and silicon supply chain by reducing China's dominance. India's northern neighbour supplies over 90 per cent of the critical minerals and the export ban is bound to impact industries such as defence, auto, and technology globally.

Jindal said his group's own auto venture is looking at getting the best technologies from not only China, but other parts of the world such as the UK and Germany as well.

Plans to launch its first vehicle by December next year are on track, he added.

It is progressing on getting a technology tie-up underway on the lithium ion batteries, he said.

If the group is buying its Chinese partner SAIC from the joint venture, Jindal said it is planning to increase its stake beyond 51 per cent and not looking at buying out the partner from the venture with which it entered the auto sector first.

The JSW group will focus on joint ventures going ahead, as it feels this is the best way to grow by learning from a partner, he said.

Meanwhile, Jindal said the group has started working on its investments of Rs 3 lakh crore in Maharashtra announced earlier, and added that the crux of investment decisions announced by signing memorandum of understandings is the implementation on the ground.

He said Gadchiroli has very good potential for steel manufacturing given the huge iron and steel reserves that the district is blessed with and added that the Naxalism-affected district can also be India's largest steel manufacturing base.

Naxalism is "more or less" over and now is the time for development and giving essential jobs to the people, he said.

Recalling that the group used to export steel to China around 22 years ago, Jindal said the neighbouring country has ramped up capacity to be the biggest in the world and India will also have to expand capacities in steel.

He rued that the Indian economy is a lot "skewed", with services contributing for over 60 per cent of the GDP and stressed on the need to grow manufacturing share beyond the present 15 per cent.

India will also have to invest in research and development going ahead, he said, pointing to the large number of patents that China has.