Context

• India’s evolving strategy for critical minerals reflects a recognition that value lies not in extraction but in transforming ores into high-purity materials essential for clean energy and advanced manufacturing.
• The Union Cabinet’s new ₹7,280-crore rare-earth magnet scheme and the G-20 framework on critical minerals indicate a strategic shift toward midstream value creation.
• This shift is urgent, as the resilience of future industries depends on control over refining capacity rather than simply on mineral reserves.

The Global Context: A Chokepoint in the Midstream

• Critical mineral supply chains have become instruments of geopolitical influence.
• China dominates over 90% of rare-earth and graphite refining and most lithium and cobalt processing, creating a global bottleneck.
• Temporary export controls in 2025 showed how easily these supply chains can be disrupted. India’s dependence on imported refined materials, despite domestic mining reforms, therefore represents a significant vulnerability.
• India imports nearly all its lithium, nickel, and cobalt, even though these materials underpin renewable energy systems, semiconductors, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and defence manufacturing.
• Without domestic refining capacity, India remains exposed to geopolitical shocks and global price distortions.

India’s Processing Gap: A Structural Weakness

• India already mines and processes several critical minerals, copper, graphite, silicon, tin, titanium, rare earths, and zirconium, but refining capacity lags in both quality and scale.
• Battery-grade graphite requires 99.95% purity, far above current domestic levels.
• Rare earths are processed into oxides but not separated into the metals needed for magnets, and tin production meets only a fraction of domestic demand.
• This gap traps India in low-value roles: exporting raw materials while importing high-value components.
• Such dependence threatens the broader economy and undermines aspirations for technological self-reliance.

Five Strategic Interventions for Building Refining Capacity

• Transform Centres of Excellence into Engines of Applied Innovation
  • The nine Centres of Excellence under the National Critical Mineral Mission must prioritise commercially deployable processing technologies with clear metrics for purity, recovery, cost, and waste.
  • Collaboration among IITs, NITs, industry, and research institutions is essential to accelerate the transition from laboratory innovation to industrial deployment.
• Mobilise Secondary Resources as Domestic Mineral Sources
  • India generates massive quantities of industrial waste, coal fly ash, red mud, zinc residues, and steel slag, that contain recoverable critical minerals.
  • Pilot studies show recovery is viable, but scaling requires incentives, streamlined environmental clearances, and integration with proposed Critical Minerals Processing Parks.
  • Leveraging secondary resources can significantly reduce import dependence while lowering environmental impact.
• Build a Skilled Workforce in Advanced Refining Technologies
  • Most of India’s metallurgical workforce is trained for bulk metals, not for hydrometallurgy and advanced chemical refining, which critical minerals require.
  • A dedicated skilling programme must introduce new curricula, fund train-the-trainer modules, and expand apprenticeships with established refiners.
  • This can create thousands of specialised jobs in mineral-rich states such as Odisha, Gujarat, and Jharkhand.
• De-risk Investments Through Market-Shaping Tools
  • Global critical mineral prices are often kept artificially low, discouraging new entrants.
  • India’s planned mineral stockpile could become an active market stabiliser, offering offtake guarantees and price assurance during downturns.
  • Key sectors, defence, pharmaceuticals, electronics, should commit to partial domestic sourcing, ensuring steady demand and investor confidence.
  • Refiners must meet strict quality and reliability standards to build trust across supply chains.
• Leverage Mineral Diplomacy to Build Processing Partnerships
  • India’s overseas acquisitions in Argentina and Zambia must be complemented by strong domestic refining.
  • Processing strength converts resource access into strategic leverage, enabling co-investment agreements rather than raw-ore transactions.
  • Partnerships such as the Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation framework demonstrate how trilateral cooperation can advance processing technologies.
  • Multilateral forums, from BRICS to the G-20, should integrate critical mineral processing into trade and investment dialogues.

Strategic Implications: Refining as the Foundation of Autonomy

• In critical mineral supply chains, processing determines power. Mines represent potential, but refineries create strategic capability.
• Investing in midstream capacity reduces import dependence, anchors high-value industries, generates skilled employment, and enhances geopolitical resilience.
• The key question is no longer whether India has sufficient mineral reserves but whether it can refine those minerals into high-purity materials that feed the industries of the future.

Conclusion

• India’s most pressing mineral challenge lies not in extraction but in developing the refining infrastructure essential for technological and strategic autonomy.
• By combining innovation, recycling, workforce development, investment support, and international collaboration, India can transition from a supplier of raw materials to a producer of high-value, strategically indispensable materials.
• True autonomy in the clean-energy era will be defined not by what nations mine but by what they can refine.