Mines and Minerals Act Amended to
Open Critical Minerals to Private Sector
·
Mines
and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR) has been amended
through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 w.e.f. 17.08.2023. The Amendment Act, 2023
provides for:
· A list of 24 critical and strategic minerals in Part D of Schedule-I.
[ABS News Service/19.03.2025]
The
country is greatly dependent on other Asian countries for raw materials, mineral
processing, battery and other basic requirements for production and promotion of
e-vehicles in the country, since the basic raw material for production of electric
vehicles is lithium and other critical materials. At present, investments in manufacturing
and overall value addition for Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACCs) are negligible in
India and almost entire domestic demand of ACCs is still being met through imports.
In order to reduce dependency of imported ACC battery for electric vehicles, the
Government on 12th May, 2021 approved a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
for manufacturing of Advance Chemistry Cell (ACC) in the country. The total outlay
of the scheme is Rs.18,100 Crore for a period of 5 years. The scheme envisages to
establish a competitive ACC battery manufacturing set up in the country (50 GWh).
As
per the information received from Ministry of Mines, the Union Cabinet has approved
the launch of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) on 29th January, 2025,
for a period of seven years from 2024-25 to 2030-31, with a proposed expenditure
of Rs.16,300 crore and an expected investment of Rs.18,000 crore by Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs) and other stakeholders. The NCMM aims to secure a long-term
sustainable supply of critical minerals and strengthen India’s critical mineral
value chains encompassing all stages from mineral exploration and mining to beneficiation,
processing, and recovery from end-of-life products.
In
order to boost domestic production and reduce India’s dependence on imported lithium,
cobalt and other key materials required for EV batteries, the Government of India
has taken significant steps, which are as under:
i.
A list
of 24 critical and strategic minerals in Part D of Schedule-I.
ii.
Omission
of six minerals from the list of 12 atomic minerals in Part B of Schedule-I namely
Lithium, Titanium, Beryl and beryllium bearing minerals, Niobium, Tantalum and Zirconium
bearing minerals and their inclusion in the list of aforesaid 24 critical and strategic
minerals.
iii.
Section
11D of the Act, which empowers Central Government to exclusively auction mining
lease and composite license for critical & strategic minerals specified in Part
D of the Schedule-I.
iv.
Exploration
license for 29 minerals included in Schedule-VII of the Act.
In
addition, Ministry of Mines has been empowered to auction blocks for grant of Exploration
License through an order dated 21st October, 2024 under Section 20A of MMDR Act
1957. Central Government has successfully auctioned 24 blocks of critical and strategic
minerals in 04 tranches in 2024.
The
exploration of critical minerals has been significantly increased. Over the past
three years, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has undertaken 368 exploration
projects focused on critical and strategic minerals. In the FY 2024-25, 195 projects
are being executed, and 227 projects have been approved for the upcoming financial
year.
100%
FDI is allowed under “Automatic” route for mining and exploration of metal and non-metal
ores. A foreign company may incorporate an Indian subsidiary company or invest in
an existing Indian Company to become eligible for grant of mining and exploration
rights.
To
support the critical minerals sector, Government has eliminated customs duties on
25 minerals and reduced Basic Customs Duties (BCD) on 2 minerals in the Union Budget
for 2024-25.
In
the Union Budget 2025-26, the Government proposed to fully exempt cobalt powder
and waste, the scrap of lithium-ion battery, Lead, Zinc and 12 more critical minerals
to secure their availability for manufacturing in India and promote more jobs for
India’s youth.
Ministry
of Mines is engaged in various multilateral and bilateral platforms for strengthening
the critical minerals value chain, focussing on multiple objectives, including the
processing and recycling of critical minerals such as Minerals Security Partnership
(MSP) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), initiative on Critical and
Emerging Technologies (iCET), the UK-India Technology
Security Initiative (TSI) and others.
The
Ministry of Mines has taken a significant step to acquire overseas mineral assets
through the establishment of a joint venture company, KhanijBidesh
India Ltd. (KABIL). Its overarching mission
is to identify and acquire overseas mineral assets that hold critical and strategic
significance, specifically targeting minerals like Lithium, Cobalt and others. KABIL
has signed an Exploration and Development Agreement with CAMYEN, a state-owned enterprise
of Catamarca province of Argentina, for Exploration and mining of Five Lithium Brine
Block in Argentina with an area of around 15,703 Ha.
This
information was given by the Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries, Bhupathiraju
Srinivasa Varma in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 18 March, 2025.