Govt to releases critical minerals list

Govt to releases critical minerals list

Subject :Geography

Section: Economic geography

In News: The government has released list of critical minerals of India for the first time.

Key Points:

• Ministry of Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs released the ‘Report on Identification of Critical Minerals for India’.
• The critical minerals list is likely to have more than 40 minerals
• The list is designed to identify and prioritise minerals that are essential for various industrial sectors such as high-tech electronics, tele communications, transport and defence.
• The move is significant as India aims to achieve self sufficiency and ensure resource sustainability,

Other objective is to:

• Reduce import dependencies
• Enhance supply chain resilience
• Support the country’s net-zero objectives

Significance:

• Identification of critical minerals is the first step towards developing adequate supplies
• Lack of a specific list of critical minerals was also becoming a deterrent towards prioritising the country’s critical mineral needs.
• The list will serve as a guiding framework for policy formulation, strategic planning, and investment decisions in the mining sector.
• Important in view of China being leader both in concentration and processing of these minerals.

Application:

• Critical minerals, such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements (REEs), are key to clean energy technologies
• They are needed for the production of wind turbines and solar photovoltaic cells for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and electricity magnets.