India imports gold from Peru, and lithium, copper, and molybdenum from Chile, and it aims to seek preferential rights in exploration as well as assured and enduring rates for these metals and minerals to secure supply chains for future, the sources said.
The second round of negotiations for an FTA with Chile took place in the virtual mode last week, while the next round is expected in the last week of October, sources added.
While Indian companies are already eligible to participate in mineral auctions for copper mines in Chile, the sources pointed that India’s current per capita consumption of copper is less than half of the developed countries’ and it will grow substantially as the country continues to develop.
While India is trying to secure its future supply chains, Peru and Chile are trying to diversify their trade destinations to prevent a single or a few countries from stockpiling their mineral deposits to control market prices in the future. Sources said despite the sale of copper ore at the rates of refined copper, China is paying a premium by absorbing costs of extraction and refining, which may allow monopolisation of trade in the commodity in the future.
With an increase in geopolitical uncertainty due to the ongoing conflicts and economic slowdown in many developed countries, India is looking to secure supply chains for critical minerals and petroleum products with potential trade deals with several Latin American countries.
In December 2024, government sources had told CNBC-TV18 that India was aiming at getting duty concessions for exports of engineering goods and other items to Latin American countries, as it was looking at benefiting from lessened distance for freight due to China’s new port on Peru’s Pacific coast.
India is also in talks with Peru and Chile to expand cooperation in trade. While last year, Peru had indicated its plans to conclude a trade pact with India in 2025 with eight rounds of negotiations already been held, India and Chile held the first round of negotiations in May 2025 to expand an existing preferential trade agreement (PTA) to an FTA.
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(Edited by : Shloka Badkar)
