India Holds Third Largest Titanium Ore Reserves, Yet Remains Import-Dependent

India’s imports of titanium have grown over the years to meet the rising demand for the critical mineral from key sectors, and the recent initiative of the Andhra Pradesh government is a step in the right direction, according to the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI).

In order to boost domestic production of titanium, the federation has suggested that the government needs to come up with “an integrated ecosystem covering exploration, responsible mining, beneficiation, mineral separation, titanium dioxide pigments, titanium sponge, titanium alloys, advanced materials, precision engineering and recycling.”

As per the DGC&S data, the import of titanium has doubled from ₹344-640 crore in FY2023-24, and is likely to have grown further to meet the demand from defence, space, and other industries.

Andhra Pradesh government has taken the initiative in this regard by coming up with the Titanium & Strategic Materials Mission (AP-TSMM) in March this year to capitalise on its 211 million tonnes of Beach Sand Mineral (BSM) resources spread across 16 identified deposits. This policy targets investments of more than ₹50,000 crore through three proposed Titanium & Rare Earth industrial clusters, and generating over 40,000 anticipated direct and indirect jobs.

“The AP-TSMM is a timely and strategically important initiative because it shifts the focus from mineral extraction to building an integrated titanium and strategic materials value chain," says a senior expert from FIMI. 

India has the third-largest reserves of ilmenite and rutile (about 92 million tonnes) after Australia and China. However, as far as mining of ilmenite and rutile (which is titanium ore) is concerned, India ranks in the fifth position. China mines 4.2 million tonnes of titanium ore, followed by Australia at 2.38 million tonnes, Canada (1.9 million tonnes), South Africa (1 million tonnes), and India (0.39 million tonnes).

India imports nearly 75% of all its requirement of titanium dioxide, of which almost two-thirds is imported from China. The disconnect poses a broader policy challenge to a nation that wants to build its own strategic industries and minimise reliance on the outside world. The moot question is, why has India’s abundant mineral wealth not given rise to a domestic manufacturing ecosystem that can compete with other countries?

According to FIMI experts, the challenge has never been the availability of titanium-bearing mineral resources, but the absence of an integrated and investment-friendly value chain. The state is looking to build an integrated supply chain for strategic minerals from their extraction to further down the value chain with processing and manufacturing, a process that will be facilitated by this state-proposed framework to turn natural resources into industrial capability instead of just being a raw materials supplier. 

India Is Still Import-Dependent

The titanium challenge in India is not just a geological one. The challenge in the country isn't the availability of titanium-bearing mineral resources, but the lack of a value chain with an integrated investment environment from the mines to processing to advanced manufacturing.

Hence, most minerals' economic value is generated outside of India. Comparatively, China has developed a full chain of businesses covering not only titanium production, but also its downstream businesses, including titanium dioxide pigment and rare earth processing, to be dominant in the global market. That difference underscores a larger manufacturing disparity: while mineral reserves are necessary, they are not sufficient to ensure manufacturing strength and supply chain resilience.

This necessitates policy support, investment, processing capacity, and industrial linkages beyond extraction, to create a competitive ecosystem. This structural fault is what AP-TSMM intends to address.

India's Titanium Hub

The state is endowed with wealth and industrial readiness. The state is one of India's richest BSM regions with about 25% of ilmenite reserves, 31% of rutile reserves, 35% of zircon reserves and 30% of monazite reserves.

That resource base provides a strong foundation for forming the domestic industry based on the development of the materials of strategic value. Equally vital is the state's supportive infrastructure, such as its ports, industrial corridors and logistics network, that can facilitate mineral processing, manufacture and export at the same time.

All these advantages combine to give Andhra Pradesh a stronger position than many other parts of India to move beyond extraction and join the higher-value industrial stage. The state is not just looking at the geology to develop mineral industries downstream, but is also looking at its natural resources and logistical capabilities to develop long-term, more valuable mineral industries.

What Does AP-TSMM Propose?

The proposed Mission aims to move the discussion from mineral extraction to the development of industry at its core. It aims to create an achievable framework to encourage private investment across mining, processing and downstream manufacturing, forming an integrated ecosystem instead of just being a BSM extraction project.

The state has set out an ambitious agenda to mobilise more than ₹50,000 crore in investments with the integration of three proposed Titanium & Rare Earth industrial clusters and create more than 40,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities through the creation of a titanium and strategic materials ecosystem. Equally important is its focus on value addition, processing the minerals in the country, producing value-added products, maximising economic returns and enhancing India's strategic potential as opposed to exporting raw resources. 

The ultimate goal is to keep a greater proportion of the value of these essential minerals in the country's economy and to nurture strategically important industries. The next challenge, however, lies in transforming this vision into a commercially viable and feasible framework that can be implemented and that can foster continuous investment and industry engagement.

From Vision To Reality

The proposed framework aims at enhancing commercial viability by creating industrial clusters that link together the different mining, mineral separation, processing and downstream manufacturing activities within a connected ecosystem to allow industries to be located nearer their raw materials sources and to enhance operational efficiency.

In parallel, the policy seeks to address the longstanding structural constraints that have persisted in the sector, such as regulatory complexity, security concerns about raw materials, lack of streamlined approvals, capital costs, gaps in technology and price volatility, which have been restricting investment in the sector. The state aims to establish an environment for long-term industrial development and private participation through a coordinated policy approach in order to overcome these challenges.

The larger goal is to decrease India's reliance on imports of critical raw materials and build its domestic value chains so that critical materials will help industrialise India, rather than fueling foreign value chains. The Mission will seek to take this step with the aim of building the foundation for a competitive and sustainable strategic materials industry.

Can Mission Deliver On Its Ambitions?

Industry is hopeful about the direction of the proposed Mission, but warns that the steps that will follow are critical to its success.

"India should position itself as a globally competitive producer of finished strategic materials rather than merely a supplier of raw mineral resources only. Mining forms the foundation of the value chain, but the greatest economic value is created through downstream processing, advanced materials and manufacturing," a senior expert from FIMI told The Secretariat.   

FIMI believes that the success of the Mission depends on certainty of the process, speeding up of the process, private participation, integrated processing clusters, robust research and development, and linkage with defence and advanced manufacturing. The industry further sees an industry framework that will draw a lot of investment from the domestic and international market, provided it is implemented in line with the policy goals of the industry.

The Mission continues to be a discussion framework for now, and there are currently no formal implementation steps, as industry and institutional stakeholders are offering input in the lead-up to actual implementation.

The policy will be designed through a consultation process, which will influence the final design, including regulatory and commercial design. The proposal is the beginning of the Andhra Pradesh industrial strategy. The long-term effects will ultimately be dependent on the extent to which these recommendations are adopted for policy implementation and will be fully realised on the ground.