India Has Rich Critical Mineral Reserves. But Where Is The Complete Data Picture?

Well, this may seem like a puzzle, but it is not. While India has made significant progress in developing its own domestic critical mineral supply chain, drawing investments into the sector, it needs to up the game in effective data collation and analysis. The areas of data analytics and modelling, and machine learning capability have been outlined by the government as key for the development of the sector.

"The work in this field needs to be given a further push," a person working in the field told The Secretariat.

“Until relevant data (on critical mineral reserves) is collated, analysed, and then marketed, investments in the critical minerals sector will remain an area of concern,” the person said.

Where's India's Critical Mineral Reserves Data?

What is woefully lacking is adequate integration of relevant data on the availability and quantum of reserves, the type and scope of investment needed, existing climate and environmental conditions, and legal dynamics, among others.

Also lacking are marketing data rooms — one-stop shops for all the information — that are essential for technical bids. India’s policymakers need to work on these two areas, experts said.

The Centre, which has recently launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), is set to table the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2025 in the next few days — a much-needed move that will support India’s growing thirst for self-reliance in critical minerals.

While the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has shouldered the crucial exercise of exploration of critical minerals — it has been directed to undertake as many as 1,200 exploration projects until 2030-31 to identify and evaluate domestic reserves, the government would need to enhance private participation for data mining and thereby marketing of the same.

“It is critical to become self-reliant in critical minerals for India to achieve the Viksit Bharat status. The government is aware of the issues and has been taking several steps," Sudipto Mukerji, Managing Director, Airborne Geoscience International, told The Secretariat.

The first step for that is to support integration of data — that is one big problem that India’s policymakers need to resolve,” an analyst said.

India has already released a list of 30 critical minerals that it identified as essential. While for the US, the list comprises 50 minerals, the EU has 34, and Australia has 26. Lithium, cobalt, copper, gallium, nickel, tin, silicon, phosphorus, and potash are among the minerals India has listed.

Roadmap For India's Future

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in a statement issued in 2024, said that it will support beneficiary countries in developing their capacity to digitalise and organise their historical mineral data. “The initiative would facilitate easy access, search, and retrieval of archived information through digital databases and artificial intelligence, as demonstrated in recent efforts in Zambia,” it said.

The Centre has outlined mineral security as its immediate priority as it navigates unpredictable geopolitical dynamics, with US President Donald Trump slapping a 50 per cent tariff on India. 

The increase in protectionism of critical materials and rare-earth elements could dent the global economy and even impact the progress in the area of clean energy. The World Economic Forum noted that India is blessed with vast mineral reserves, but only about 20 per cent of its total geological wealth has been explored to date, “thereby presenting an exciting opportunity to global investors and partner countries.”

India is also aggressively looking at Africa, South America and Australia for sourcing minerals and rare earth elements. 

The government set up Khanij Bidesh India Ltd, a joint venture between National Aluminium Company Ltd.(NALCO), Hindustan Copper Ltd.(HCL) and Mineral Exploration Company Ltd. (MECL) for exploring untapped markets outside India, much like ONGC Videsh.

Starting from identification and acquisition, KABIL is expected to carry out exploration and development activities as well.

The bottomline: While India explores critical mineral reserves within its own boundaries and outside, it has to attract more investments in the sector. And for this, New Delhi needs to manage and market its critical minerals data more aggressively and effectively.