India and the U.S. work out strategies to scale up collaboration on critical minerals under iCET

Sub: IR

Sec: Bilateral Relations

India-U.S. Cooperation on Critical Minerals

India and the U.S. are aiming to quickly finalize a bilateral agreement to enhance cooperation on critical minerals.
The focus is on supply chains for graphite, gallium, and germanium.
Key Objectives:
- Promote India’s role in the mineral security partnership.
- Co-invest in lithium projects in South America and rare earth deposits in Africa to diversify supply chains responsibly and sustainably.

India’s Strategic Initiatives:

In July 2023, India released a list of 30 critical minerals.
India-U.S. Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).
Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023: Amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, to facilitate mineral exploration and acquisition.
KABIL: India has established Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL), a joint venture from three Central Public Sector Enterprises– National Aluminium Company Ltd, Hindustan Copper Ltd and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Ltd- to acquire critical mineral assets abroad, focusing on lithium and cobalt in Australia, Argentina, and Chile.

Critical mineral list of India

International Collaboration:

Mineral Security Partnership: India’s Ministry of Mines has joined this U.S.-led partnership to secure critical mineral supply chains through investments in resource-rich countries.
Advanced Materials R&D Forum: A forum to foster collaboration between American and Indian universities, national laboratories, and private sector researchers.
Geological Surveys Collaboration: Collaborative program between the Geological Survey of India and the U.S. Geological Survey to explore and evaluate rare earth elements and critical mineral deposits.

Research and Development:

Technological Collaboration: Joint efforts in neodymium-iron-boron metal, alloy, and magnet-making technologies.
Research Studies: Collaboration with U.S. entities for beneficiation of critical minerals like lithium, titanium, gallium, and vanadium.

Auction and Exploration

E-Auction of Mineral Blocks: Launched the first tranche of e-auction for 20 blocks of critical minerals including lithium, rare earth elements, and nickel.
Exploration Challenges: Emphasis on the difficulty of exploring and mining deep-seated minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel compared to surface minerals.

Environmental Goals

Green Technologies: Securing a steady supply of critical minerals is vital for India to scale up green technologies and reduce its carbon footprint.

About the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET):

It was launched by the US President and Indian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the Quad summit in May 2022.
Goal: To elevate and expand Indo-U.S. strategic technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries.
The initiative will be spearheaded by the National Security Council Secretariat in India and the US National Security Council.
The initiative would help forge links between the government, academia, and industry in areas such as AI, quantum computing, 5G/6G, biotech, space, and semiconductors.
Under iCET, the two sides have identified six focus areas of co-development and co-production:
- strengthening innovation ecosystems;
- defence innovation and technology cooperation;
- resilient semiconductor supply chains;
- space;
- STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) talent;
- next-generation telecom.

Source: TH