Since January 2025, India has signed 15 agreements focusing on critical minerals, positioning itself as a key player in the global race to secure resources vital for clean energy technologies. These agreements, aimed at securing supplies of lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, copper, and rare earth elements, are crucial for the production of electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, semiconductors, and electricity infrastructure. With these deals, India ranks just behind the United States, which leads with 41 agreements, but ahead of China, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the European Union, each with 11 agreements.
The initiatives are part of India’s broader strategy under the National Critical Mineral Mission, which was approved in January 2025. The mission, with a government allocation of Rs 16,300 crore, seeks to reduce dependency on foreign suppliers while bolstering domestic exploration, processing, manufacturing, and recycling capabilities. The mission also aims to attract an additional Rs 18,000 crore in investment.
India’s efforts include plans for 1,200 domestic exploration projects and the acquisition of overseas mining assets through both public and private enterprises. A notable partnership is between the state-owned Khanij Bidesh India Ltd and Argentina’s CAMYEN to explore five lithium blocks covering 15,703 hectares. India is also exploring joint investment opportunities in lithium and cobalt with Australia and expanding cooperation with Germany and Norway.
This global pursuit of critical minerals has seen nations increasingly sign cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding to secure mineral supplies and develop domestic processing industries. However, transparency concerns linger, with 39 percent of critical minerals agreements lacking publicly available texts.
As the global demand for clean energy technologies rises, the competition for critical minerals emphasizes the necessity for India to not only secure raw materials but also to strengthen its domestic manufacturing capabilities. Building sustainable supply chains, generating employment, and enhancing industrial capacity will be essential for India to fully integrate into the clean energy sector’s future.