2023-07-04 07:32:23 ET
Last week, the Government of India’s Ministry of Mines, released its highly anticipated Report of the Committee on Identification of Critical Minerals .
Drawing upon the combined American, European, and Australian experience of critical materials policies, the report noted that an ‘ideal definition’ of critical minerals in the Indian context would be the following,
Critical minerals are those minerals which are essential for economic development and national security, (while) the lack of availability of these minerals or even concentration of existence, extraction or processing of these minerals in few geographical locations may lead to supply chain vulnerability and disruption.
These minerals are considered ‘critical’ since they are expected to play an ever-larger role in the economies of the future, particularly in high-tech electronics, telecommunications, transport, and defence applications.
Moreover, they are becoming increasingly central to the net zero trajectories that countries are likely to follow.
The government’s report specifically considers the difficulty of extraction and processing of the minerals, as well as the potential for supply chain disruption.
Committee process
To identify critical minerals of strategic importance, the ministry established a seven-member committee in November 2022.
While preparing the list, the committee attempted to lay the groundwork for an ecosystem that could address multiple objectives including supporting economic growth, job creation and competitiveness; research, innovation, and exploration; enhancing global partnerships; securing raw material security for the country’s defence needs; and promoting climate and environmental protection.
As a result, the committee also studied establishing an end-to-end value chain which included upstream exploration, upstream mining, processing, refining and metallurgy, manufacturing and industrial applications, and material recovery and recycling.
Minerals were identified through a comprehensive three-stage process,
- Identified 69 elements that were classified as critical in major economies such as Australia, USA, Canada, Japan, and South Korea.
- Meetings were held with ministries in charge of sectors of vital importance in the areas of power generation and distribution, atomic energy, renewable energy, fertilizers, electronics, and rare earth metals. This step allowed the committee to identify minerals that were most critical in the Indian context.
- The committee then worked ‘to derive a criticality index’ in consultation with the International Energy Agency, and research experts with expertise in the European Union’s methodology which considered both ‘economic importance and supply chain risks.’
The European Commission issued its first list of critical raw minerals in 2011, and has continued to update it every 3 years, providing a sound template to think about the challenge at hand.
Within ‘Economic Importance,’ the committee analysed disruption potential, a substitutability index, GVA multiplier score, and a cross-cutting index.
The ‘Supply Risk’ framework looked at governance issues including licensing, end-of-life recycling rates and potential for recovery, import reliance and self-sufficiency, as well as issues of substitutability.
In the final list of critical minerals, the committee thus included elements that it deemed to be of both high ‘Economic Importance,’ high ‘Supply Chain Risk’ and a part of the list created in the second step.
The report identified three high potential value chains which were Clean Technology, Information and Communication Technology (such as semiconductors), and Advanced Manufacturing.
Defence and security technologies were also included in the value chain analysis.
Using this framework and accounting for other variables such as the net import reliance and reserve position of India, the committee identified 30 critical minerals which are available in the table below:
Critical Minerals | Value Chain | Major Applications | Availability in India |
---|---|---|---|
Antimony | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology | Flame Retardants, Lead-Acid Batteries, Lead Alloys, Plastics (Catalysts and Stabilisers), Glass and Ceramics | No proven reserves |
Beryllium | Advanced Manufacturing | Automotive Components: Transport and Defence Manufacturing of Machinery, Electronic and Telecommunications Equipment | Not available |
Bismuth | Advanced Manufacturing | Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Casting of Iron | Not available |
Cadmium | Advanced Manufacturing | Batteries, Pigments, Coatings | Installed capacity of 913 TPA |
Cobalt | Clean Technology | Electric Vehicles, Batteries, Corrosion Resistant Alloys, Aerospace Applications, Pigments, and Dyes | Not available |
Copper | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology | Electrical and Electronics Products, Electrical Wiring, Solar Panel, Automotive Industry | Domestic supply is only 4% of requirements |
Gallium | ICT | Semiconductors, Integrated Circuits, LEDs | Gallium is recovered as a by-product while producing alumina |
Germanium | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology; ICT | Optical Fibres, Satellites, Solar Cells | Not available |
Graphite | Clean Technology | Batteries, Lubricants, Fuel Cells for EVs | Reserves of 9 million tonnes |
Hafnium | Advanced Manufacturing | Superalloy, Catalyst Precursor, Semiconductors, Oxide for Optical, Nuclear Reactors | Found in Zirconium compounds which are produced domestically |
Indium | Advanced Manufacturing | Electronics (Laptops, LED Monitors/TVs, Smartphones), and Semi-Conductors | Not available |
Lithium | Clean Technology; Defence and security technologies | Electric Vehicles, Batteries, Glassware, Ceramics, Fuel Manufacturing, Lubricants | 5.9 million tons of lithium reserves have been found* |
Molybdenum | Advanced Manufacturing | Steel Alloys, Pigment and Dyes, Catalyst, Electrical and Electronic Equipment | Not available |
Niobium | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology | Construction, Transportation | Not available |
Nickel | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology; Defence and security technologies | Stainless Steel, Solar Panels, Batteries, Aerospace, Defence Applications and EVs | Nickel sulphate and Cobalt sulphate production is 7500TPA |
PGE (Platinum group) | Advanced Manufacturing | Auto Catalyst, Jewellery, Medicine, Electronic Equipment Used by the military | Approximately 16 tons of reserves available |
Phosphorous | Advanced Manufacturing | Mineral Fertilizer | Significant reserves available |
Potash | Advanced Manufacturing | Chemical Fertilizers, Water Softener | 90%+ reserves are available in Rajasthan |
REE | Clean Technology; Defence and security technologies | Permanent Magnets for Electricity Generators and Motors, Catalyst, Polishing, Batteries, Electronics, Defence Technologies, Wind Energy Sector, Aviation, and Space Technology | Approximately 12 tons of monazite available of which 55% – 65% are rare earth oxides |
Rhenium | Advanced Manufacturing | Super-Alloys, Aerospace and Machinery Uses, Catalysts in Petroleum Industry | Not available |
Selenium | Advanced Manufacturing | Electrolytic, Manganese, Glass, Pigments | Currently, no production |
Silicon | Advanced Manufacturing; ICT | Semiconductors, Electronics, and Transport Equipment, Paints, Aluminium Alloys | Reported production of 59,000 metric tons as per 2022 data |
Strontium | Advanced Manufacturing | Alloys of Aluminium, Pigments and Fillers, Glass, Magnets, Pyrotechnic Applications | Not available |
Tantalum | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology | Capacitors, Superalloys, Carbides, Medical Technology | Not available |
Tellurium | Clean Technology | Solar Power, Thermoelectric Devices, Rubber Vulcanising | No production |
Tin | Advanced Manufacturing | Aerospace, Construction, Home Decor, Electronics, Jewellery, and Telecommunications | Produced as concentrates and metal in Chhattisgarh |
Titanium | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology; Defence and security technologies | Aerospace and Defence Applications, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Pigments, Polymers | Titanium sponge facilities are located in Kerala |
Tungsten | Advanced Manufacturing | Mill and Cutting Tools, Mining and Construction Tools, Catalysts and Pigments, Aeronautics and Energy Uses, Tungsten Carbide | Not available |
Vanadium | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology | Alloys, Batteries | Estimated V2O5 reserves of 64,594 tons |
Zircon | Advanced Manufacturing; Clean Technology | High Value Chemical Manufacturing and Electronics Sector | Obtained as a by-product during the beneficiation of heavy mineral sands |
Managing import dependency
Presently, India is dependent on partner countries for a host of critical minerals. In the future, government officials will seek to concentrate efforts on diversifying sources and building domestic capacity for some of the minerals listed below.
Agricultural considerations
A unique feature of India’s strategy is the weightage given to fertilizers minerals (eg: Rock phosphates, Potash) to ensure food security and sufficient resources for the agricultural sector which accounts for over a fifth of GDP.
In addition, India is the largest exporter of rice in the world, as well as a major exporter of wheat.
Next steps
A report in a leading English newspaper, The Print, noted ,
According to experts in the sector, even today, only about 10-20 percent of India’s real potential vis-a-vis critical minerals has been explored.
The report adds,
The Committee also recommends creation of a Centre of Excellence for Critical Minerals (CECM) in the Ministry of Mines. The Centre of Excellence will periodically update the list of critical minerals for India and notify the critical mineral strategy from time to time.
Further,
The Committee is of the view that a detailed statistical exercise needs to be carried out for precise computation of various factors such as substitutability index, minerals cross-cutting index, import reliance etc. Hence if felt necessary, a separate sub-committee may be constituted by Ministry of Mines to exclusively work out the formula to develop the criticality index.
The Secretary for the Ministry of Mines, Mr. Vivek Bhardwaj, noted that such a report has helped identify the most crucial areas to amplify efforts and reduce dependency on other countries.
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