Beating China's mineral dominance

Removing bottlenecks alone won't create the conditions for firms to invest in mining and processing

- LAVEESH BHANDARI

Stealth aircraft, drones, computer chips, electric motors, batteries, surveillance equipment, and mobile phones all rely on a class of minerals we now call critical minerals. Unfortunately, India has limited domestic critical mineral resources and processing expertise; together, these gaps compromise the realisation of our manufacturing ambitions.

The challenge is not a small one, for it will affect almost every part of the economy—manufacturing, services, and even agriculture. Take, for instance, our path towards greater electrification of the economy, where combustion-based energy steadily gives way to electricity. This requires greater electricity storage, both for utilities and for mobility. Therefore, be it automobiles, drones, robots, shipping & aircraft, or utility-scale power storage, batteries and motors will become central to the Indian economy.

Given current trends, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and a few others will steadily become more important.

Or take the move towards greater computing and digitalisation, the growing trend of surveillance and monitoring, the artificial intelligence revolution, and possibly quantum computing, etc. All are intimately dependent on a variety of electronic products. Given their criticality—and China's proclivity to put up export controls—India is rightly attempting to enhance its manufacturing prowess in these areas. A range of minerals will therefore need to be accessed, ranging from gallium, germanium and indium for image sensors and optical equipment, to tantalum, niobium for chips, and to rare earths like europium, yttrium and terbium for magnets, etc.