Optics Aside, BRICS Critical Minerals Pledge Is China Talking

The member countries, China included, pledged to promote reliable, responsible, and fair supply chains of these essential inputs for high-end manufacturing.

Critical Mineral Reserves

The BRICS bloc holds about 80% of the world’s critical minerals. Though China leads by a fair margin, Brazil, Indonesia, and India, among others, are sitting on a pile of reserves. The BRICS partner countries – which include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Uganda, Thailand, and Vietnam - will also play a critical role in strengthening the supply chain. 

Indonesia, a new member, has major nickel resources and is also an important producer of cobalt and copper. Egypt has gold, tantalum, iron ore, and copper, while Ethiopia has substantial untapped mineral potential.

India needs critical minerals for its growing manufacturing sector, especially cutting-edge technology, whether it is electric vehicles, electronic goods, solar power, green hydrogen, defence equipment, or the aerospace sector. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a BRICS session on ‘Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’ on Sunday, spoke about the weaponisation of technology and critical minerals.

“The weaponisation of technology and critical minerals can hinder our shared progress. Therefore, we have emphasised inclusivity in the adoption of technology,” Modi cautioned.

India’s Growing Demand For Critical Minerals

India’s demand for critical minerals is rising and will accelerate further as the country transitions towards electric mobility, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and clean technologies. 

In 2023, the Ministry of Mines released a list of 30 critical minerals for India. These are: antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, PGE, phosphorus, potash, REE, rhenium, silicon, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, selenium and cadmium.

In 2022-23, India was 100% import-dependent for lithium, cobalt and nickel, while import dependence for copper ore and concentrates was 93%. India imported about 2,145 tonnes of lithium compounds, worth roughly ₹732 crore, and 32,298 tonnes of nickel, worth about ₹6,549 crore during the year. Copper ore and concentrates imports were nearly 11.79 million tonnes, valued at ₹27,374 crore.

Minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, copper, and rare earth elements are essential for electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, semiconductors, power grids, electronics, and defence equipment.

The expansion of India’s EV industry is expected to be a major driver of demand for lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite. At the same time, the rapid growth of solar and wind power will increase requirements for copper, rare earths, and other specialised minerals.

The government’s push for domestic manufacturing of semiconductors, electronics, batteries and defence equipment will further increase consumption.

India, however, remains heavily dependent on imports for several critical minerals and, in some cases, their processing. This exposes Indian manufacturers to supply disruptions, price volatility and geopolitical risks.

To reduce this vulnerability, the government has been focusing on domestic exploration and mining, recycling, overseas mineral assets, and strategic partnerships with resource-rich countries. 

National Critical Mineral Mission

In January 2025, India launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) for a period of seven years from 2024-25 to 2030-31, with a proposed expenditure of ₹16,300 crore and an expected investment of ₹18,000 crore by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and other stakeholders.

The initiative was described as a strategic blueprint to achieve energy security, drive industrial growth, and cement technological independence. The Mission aims to secure a place for India as a global player in the emerging green economy. 

The NCMM was designed with the primary objectives of securing domestic and international supply sources and strengthening mineral value chains covering exploration, mining, processing, recycling, research and development, and human resource development.  

Critical minerals are fast becoming the oil of the 21st century - scarce, strategic, and fiercely contested. They are the building blocks of a modern economy. 

India has set major climate milestones like cutting the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. These targets hinge on NCMM’s ability to secure long-term supplies of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earths. Beyond ensuring clean energy and electric mobility, the mission is designed to attract investments, foster innovation, and place India at the centre of global supply chains for the industries of tomorrow.

For India, securing reliable supplies of critical minerals will be crucial to achieving its ambitions in clean energy, manufacturing, technology, and national security.

China's Dominance

China dominates the global supply of critical minerals, controlling not just mining but, more importantly, the refining and processing stages essential for modern technologies. 

Beijing, according to a US government report, leads production for about 30 of 44 key minerals and refines roughly 70% of the world’s critical mineral output, including over 90% of rare earth elements and battery-grade graphite. 

It further said that the near-monopoly gives China strategic leverage over industries, from electric vehicles and renewables to defence and artificial intelligence. Despite Western efforts to diversify supply chains, China’s entrenched infrastructure, state-backed investments, and technical expertise ensure its dominance will likely persist through 2030.

The commitment of the BRICS nations to promote reliable, responsible, diversified, resilient, fair, sustainable, and just supply chains of critical minerals is fundamentally a commitment of China. Neither India nor Russia or any other nation can ensure reliable supply of critical minerals.

New Delhi Declaration

The New Delhi Declaration, adopted unanimously by the 11-member extended BRICS grouping on the first day of the summit, is definitely long on promise as far as supply of critical minerals is concerned. It reads as follows:

“We affirm the need to promote reliable, responsible, diversified, resilient, fair, sustainable, and just supply chains of critical minerals to guarantee benefit sharing, value addition, and economic diversification in resource-rich countries, while fully preserving sovereign rights over their mineral resources, as well as their right to adopt, maintain and enforce measures necessary to pursue legitimate public policy objectives. We recognise the key role of critical minerals for the development of zero- and low- emission energy technologies, energy security, and resilience of energy supply chains.”

Going by the New Delhi Declaration, the BRICS member nations will ensure a ‘reliable’ and ‘just’ supply chain of critical minerals for the importing nations, of which India is a major one.

The commitment, however, comes with a caveat, which is not unexpected. The producer nations will have sovereign rights over their material resources and will be free to enforce necessary measures to pursue legitimate policy objectives.