Strategic Minerals

Companies want easier cross-border investment, technology partnerships, development-bank financing and stronger cooperation on critical minerals, smart grids and biofuels

Officials from India's Mines Ministry held preliminary talks with Zambia on August 26 as New Delhi seeks overseas sources of copper and other critical minerals

Grant Thornton Bharat has called for faster investment in recycling, refining, traceability, and overseas assets as clean energy and electric mobility drive mineral demand

The government has cancelled the auction of nine critical and strategic mineral blocks, citing poor investor response and lack of qualified bidders. These blocks were put on the block in the seventh round of sale. The development comes as a setback to the government's efforts to ramp up domestic exploration and production of critical minerals that are central to the country's push for energy security, clean-tech manufacturing and cutting down dependence on imports. It also reflects the challenge of drawing private investment into riskier mineral assets, where technical complexities, higher capital costs and regulatory uncertainties tend to dampen bidding interest. The government had cancelled several critical and strategic mineral block auctions in the previous rounds as well -- 11 blocks in the sixth round, five in the fifth, 11 in the fourth, three in the third, 14 in the second and 13 in the first tranche. "Since there were nil bids... the auction process for... two mineral bloc

State-backed IREL is at the forefront of India's global outreach to secure rare earth supplies to meet rising domestic demand and wean itself off dependence on China

From Iran to China, President Trump's global aggression has encouraged other countries to search for new ways to pressure the US economy

Beijing has long supported strategic enterprises, either directly or through indirect means like inexpensive loans or a helping hand with permits, a far cry from West's economically driven approach

The move, effective October 10, 2025, follows NITI Aayog's panel advice and brings limestone under central regulation as its use grows in large industries

PwC report says M&A in critical minerals dropped sharply in 2024 as lithium prices plunged, supply fears eased and governments tightened scrutiny on strategic resources

Since the launch of auctions for critical minerals in 2023, the government has offered 81 blocks across five tranches

Highlighting government efforts, PM Modi said the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) has already been launched, with exploration work underway at more than 1,200 locations

The proposal, aimed at securing long-term access to resources like lithium, copper, cobalt, and rare earth elements, comes amid tightening global supply and rising geopolitical risks

Rare earth magnets shortage issue has had no impact on production of Tata Motors and JLR's electric vehicles and is unlikely to affect in the foreseeable future, although there are a few challenges in the coming quarters, Tata Motors Group CFO P B Balaji said on Friday. In an earnings call, he said teams are working to sort out the problem and the company is continuing to de-risk itself, and is confident of de-risking itself completely. "Absolutely no impact on production so far, as far as rare earth are concerned, nothing in the foreseeable future," Balaji asserted when asked if the company adjusted production due to the shortage of rare earth magnets. He further said, "The semiconductor crisis has given us enough learnings and abilities to actually manage challenges of this sort. So at this point in time, we do not see stress in the domestic business as well as JLR and a lot of interventions put in place to ensure that we keep this pace." While the company also does not see any .

In the first major US-China trade dispute of Trump's second term, Beijing was able to use its control of rare earths to force Washington to a deal last week

India will amend the Mines and Minerals Act 2023 to permit use of ₹5,600 crore for overseas critical mineral exploration and introduce a tailings policy to support extraction

The industry group also suggested a delegation of auto-company representatives go to China to take up the matter with the authorities there

Our opinion page today makes a strong argument for better management of the arbitration process, as well as the precedent that the Supreme Court's judgement sets

Our selection of editorial and columns today look at the importance of the new Critical Minerals Mission, India-China ties, ideas for the Union Budget to jump-start growth, and more

Goyal, speaking at Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington after signing, described the MOU as a multi-dimensional partnership that would include open supply chains for materials