India’s lithium and semiconductor dreams got a shot in the arm, with the Parliament on 2 August 2023, clearing the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2023 to ensure India’s mineral security and safeguard energy transition pathway by allowing the private sector to hunt for key and deep-seated minerals, as per a Times of India report.
Government officials said the Bill goes beyond lithium. “For decades, there has been hardly any exploration. Only 30% of the Indian land mass has been explored. The introduction of exploration licences and the Centre taking on the burden of auctioning blocks will attract small explorers from overseas. Only 19 mineral blocks out of the 107 given to states so far have been auctioned," they said.
The Bill opens up six of the 12 key minerals, including lithium, considered one of the building blocks of the energy transition, and deep-seated minerals for the private sector. The others are beryllium, niobium, titanium, tantalum and zirconium. Deep-seated minerals include gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, cobalt, platinum group of minerals and diamond.
The Bill is timely in the backdrop of the recent lithium deposit discovery in Jammu & Kashmir’s Reasi district. Lithium plays a strategic role in energy transition due to its application in batteries for electric vehicles, energy storage devices, right up to laptops and mobiles.
India is totally dependent on imports for meeting the demand for critical minerals, especially lithium, cobalt, and nickel. The government recently published for the first time a list identifying 30 critical minerals essential for the country’s economic development and national security.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
