Clauses on critical minerals will be part of FTA ambits

IN THE WORLDWIDE scramble for critical minerals, the government said that it will look at more collaborations through expansion of free trade agreements (FTA) and special partnership agreements to meet its requirements of these resources, the bedrock of modern manufacturing.

- Mukesh Jagota

"The government shall aim to enter into critical minerals partnership agreements (CMPA) with resource-rich countries. The government will also work to include critical minerals chapters in existing bilateral or free trade agreements with countries of interest," National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) said late on Friday.

Targets for partnerships could be producer countries like Australia, Canada, Peru, Argentina and Chile. A trade agreement with Australia is already in place and is being expanded. FTA talks with Canada, Peru and Chile are in progress. With Australia and Argentina, Khanij Bidesh India (KABIL) has already entered partnerships for exploration.