Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took stock of the progress on acquisition of critical mineral assets overseas and the performance of a Rs 1,500-crore incentive scheme to promote recycling of critical minerals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reviewed the status of India’s efforts to acquire critical mineral assets overseas, along with the implementation of a Rs 1,500-crore incentive scheme aimed at boosting domestic recycling of key minerals, PTI reported citing sources..
The review took place during the prime minister’s quarterly sectoral meeting with the Ministry of Mines. According to the sources, securing mineral assets abroad is considered vital for India’s long-term economic and strategic priorities, as it helps ensure reliable supply chains for critical minerals in high demand.
These minerals are essential for sectors such as electric mobility, renewable energy, electronics and defence. The update on overseas acquisitions reflects the government’s broader national objective of strengthening supply security for minerals that are central to modern industrial growth.
Assured access to these minerals is key for supporting the country’s energy transition plans, reducing import dependence and strengthening domestic manufacturing under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, they said. The status of availability of rare earth elements also came up for discussion during the review meeting, sources said, adding that the discussion was quite fruitful.
The prime minister also reviewed the performance of a Rs 1,500-crore incentive scheme, which was approved by the Union Cabinet last year, the sources said. The scheme aims at developing recycling capacity in the country for the separation and production of critical minerals from secondary sources.
The incentives are likely to develop at least 270 kilo tonnes of recycling capacity every year, resulting in around 40 kilo tonnes of annual critical mineral production, resulting in about Rs 8,000 crore of investment and job creation – both direct and indirect – of close to 70,000.
This scheme is part of the National Critical Mineral Mission, which is aimed at building the domestic capacity and supply chain resilience in the critical mineral sector.
The government has approved a Rs 16,300-crore National Critical Mineral Mission, with a total outlay of Rs 34,300 crore spread over seven years, aiming to achieve self-reliance and accelerate India’s journey towards green energy transition.
Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements are essential raw materials required to fuel the growth of rapidly growing clean energy technologies.
With inputs from agencies
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