Critical Minerals

• India has identified 30 critical minerals that it considers essential for economic development and national security of the country in order to ensure “self-reliance” and to address “the vulnerability” in its supply chain.
• The ‘Report of the Committee on Identification of Critical Minerals’, comprises the list of thirty critical minerals, including antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, phosphorous, potash, titanium, tungsten and rare earth elements.
• With a few exceptions such as copper, gallium, graphite, cadmium, phosphorus, potash, and titanium, India is 100% import dependent for most of these minerals.
• India was recently inducted into the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP).

ABOUT CRITICAL MINERALS

• It is a metallic or non-metallic element that has two characteristics :-
  • It is essential for the functioning of our modern technologies, economies or national security and
  • There is a risk that its supply chains could be disrupted.
• The ‘criticality’ of minerals changes with time as supply and society’s needs shift.
• They are used to manufacture advanced technologies, including mobile phones, computers, fibre-optic cables, semiconductors, banknotes, and defence, aerospace and medical applications etc.
• Top Producers: Chile, Indonesia, Congo, China, Australia and South Africa.

ABOUT MINERAL SECURITY PARTNERSHIP

• It is an ambitious new initiative to bolster critical mineral supply chains, announced by the United States (US) and key partner countries in June 2022.
• The goal of the alliance is to ensure that critical minerals are produced, processed, and recycled in a manner that supports the ability of countries to realise the full economic development benefit of their geological endowments.
• The focus of the grouping would be on the supply chains of minerals such as Cobalt, Nickel, Lithium and also the 17 “rare earth” minerals.