National Critical Minerals Mission: Mines Ministry seeks ₹34,300 crore for over 6 yrs

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Mines has sought Rs 34,300 crores spread over six years for augmenting domestic availability of critical minerals that are essential for India's transition to green energy, making batteries and electronics which are crucial for the country's energy security as it races to meet its Net Zero carbon commitments.

- AMITAV RANJAN

Budget 2024 had announced a National Critical Minerals Mission to promote domestic exploration and production, to acquire mines abroad and to encourage recycling of critical minerals at home as limited domestic production, coupled with extreme import dependency on a handful of countries, created a supply risk that could disrupt the clean energy transition.

Out of the Mines Ministry's budget, a large chunk—Rs 7,000 crores—is being sought for expansion of domestic mineral production where the target is to explore 1,200 sites for auction of 100 discovered critical mineral blocks by financial year 2029-2030.

Prime exploration focus would be on 15 critical minerals including graphite, lithium, potash and rare earth elements.