Sources said that for India, with its thrust on mineral security, a specific framework for securing critical mineral supplies will be part of the upcoming trade agreements. Investments related to the mining of critical minerals will also be included in the FTAs.

Earlier, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada told Parliament that the trade deals will help Indian exporters with preferential market access while addressing non-tariff barriers.

“Negotiations on the bilateral trade deal with Chile are almost reaching closure; this would be critical for India at a time when New Delhi is looking to boost its collaboration with mineral-rich nations and diversify its import markets,” a Commerce Ministry official told The Secretariat.

Semicon 2.0 Mission

The Union Cabinet, on July 15, announced the ₹1,27,500 crore (around US$15 billion) ‘Semicon 2.0’ programme, aimed at further bolstering the country’s semiconductor designing and manufacturing ecosystem. The problem is import dependence for rare earth minerals, which form the key raw material not only for the semiconductor industry but even for other sectors including electronics, green energy, electric vehicles and defence, to name just a few.  

A senior government official told The Secretariat that the issue of excessive import dependence has been discussed by the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the Commerce Ministry.

The rise in protectionist policies across the globe has pushed several countries, including India, to look at a sustained and secure supply chain network for critical minerals.

“While we are aggressively moving on expanding the green energy ecosystem, EVs and other areas with a push towards boosting the Make in India programme, the problem of shortage and overdependence on imports for raw materials is also getting bigger; it also exposes India to possible supply chain disruptions,” the official said.

While India imports more than 70% of its critical minerals requirements from China, New Delhi has quietly but aggressively shifted its focus. Chile is fast emerging as the country’s top supplier for certain types of critical minerals such as copper ore and lithium.

Chile’s Expanding Role

In January this year, Chile, which is now looking to play a larger role in the global critical mineral supply chain, released its National Critical Minerals Strategy. The Latin American major, through alliances and partnerships under this programme, is eyeing investments from across the world to develop and promote new projects and build a responsible and sustainable supply chain.

Similarly, India is also looking at the Eurasian block, though at this juncture, New Delhi does not source critical minerals from the region.

India’s International Partnerships

India has struck several bilateral partnerships with the aim of securing mineral supplies while diversifying its import markets.

In 2023, India joined the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), a global initiative which provides a common platform to a group of countries looking to chart a resilient supply chain network by reducing dependence on a handful of sources.

KABIL Needs Rebooting?

The Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) was also set up in 2018. While this was to increase India’s overseas mining and processing exercise, little has been achieved.

Industry sources said much of it remains on paper, largely with memorandums of understanding being inked.

“Actual mining has not started; acquisitions, which were one of the primary objectives of KABIL, are yet to fructify,” a senior executive in an EV firm pointed out.

According to an Observer Research Foundation (ORF) research, most overseas projects are at an early stage. “Financing and technology gaps exist, and weak domestic demand for refined materials continues to constrain the development of a processing ecosystem,” the research said. It added that further, critical mineral supply chains across the world are capital-intensive and characterised by a midstream chokepoint that cannot be replicated quickly.

In January, 2025, the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) was launched by the government. The need of the hour is to augment the Centre-state coordination, facilitating timely investments and project delivery.

Shortage of critical minerals has not yet hit production in green energy and EVs, but the increased investment flows for capacity building will eventually lead to supply chain constraints.

“With these concerns, investments will remain below the optimum level,” the executive said.

Road Ahead

S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said that the government is aware of the requirements and necessary steps are being taken.

“We are moving in the right direction, but this would naturally take some time; nothing happens with a magic wand, and this is the same everywhere. Even when we take the example of other countries like Taiwan, we must understand that the exercise of building this process was time-consuming,” he said.  

Rome was not built in a day, but a continued multipronged approach and effort will be key to secure a steady supply chain network for critical minerals and other raw materials if India’s ambitious target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, along with capacity expansion with a focus on manufacturing, is to be met.