India pushes indigenous EV manufacturing and critical mineral self-sufficiency

Critical minerals — lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, rare earth elements, beryllium, tantalum, and niobium among others — are the foundational inputs for the clean energy transition, advanced defence systems, and next-generation electronics. India formally identified 30 critical minerals as strategically essential, mirroring similar exercises by the United States, European Union, Japan, and Australia. The urgency intensified globally after COVID-19 exposed the fragility of concentrated supply chains, and India's own vulnerability became starkly apparent when China — which controls up to 90% of global processing capacity for several of these minerals — disrupted supplies following Operation Sindoor.

Historically, India's minerals governance was constrained by the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, which classified lithium, beryllium, tantalum, and niobium as 'atomic minerals', effectively reserving them for government entities and barring private sector exploration for decades. This classification, designed to protect nuclear materials, inadvertently stunted domestic exploration capacity. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 was the watershed correction: it delisted several minerals from the atomic category, opened them to private sector exploration through auctioned licences, and reoriented India's minerals governance toward market-driven discovery. Entry 54 of the Union List gives Parliament exclusive jurisdiction over mines and mineral development, providing the constitutional basis for this centralised policy architecture.

India's G-20 Presidency further elevated critical minerals as a multilateral priority, embedding supply chain resilience in global economic governance discussions and helping India build coalitions with like-minded mineral-rich nations.