Understanding India's Critical Minerals Ecosystem

FAQs on India’s Critical Minerals Ecosystem

1. Why are critical minerals important for India?

   Critical minerals are essential for emerging technologies such as semiconductors, green hydrogen, renewable energy, and electric mobility. They play a vital role in ensuring national resilience, industrial growth, and economic security.

2. What is the main challenge in India’s critical minerals ecosystem?

   The biggest challenge lies in the commercialisation gap. India currently lacks domestic capital equipment for extractive metallurgy, advanced processing, and recycling infrastructure. This dependence on imports slows industrial-scale deployment and limits value addition.

3. What steps is India taking to overcome equipment dependency?

   The government is investing in indigenous equipment manufacturing. Institutions with expertise in modular engineering, process chemistry, and materials science are being identified as focal centres for developing capital equipment tailored to India’s needs.

4. What is the role of industrial collaboration in this ecosystem?

   Industrial partnerships—especially through TRL 7/8 pilot-scale platforms—are connecting academia, research institutions, and private players. These collaborations help bridge the research-to-commercialisation gap and enhance technological readiness in critical sectors.

5. How is India addressing the shortage of specialised machinery?

   India is building domestic expertise in specialty process chemicals, plant design, and modular systems. This initiative aims to reduce dependence on sensitive, large-scale imported machinery and strengthen national self-reliance.

6. What bottlenecks are affecting recycling and recovery?

   India lacks robust infrastructure for end-of-life product recycling—such as lithium-ion batteries—and for refining intermediate resources like black mass. This results in the export of valuable materials without domestic value addition.

7. How is the lithium-ion battery ecosystem affected?

   Most equipment for lithium-ion cell fabrication and recycling remains imported. While government efforts to indigenise this machinery are underway, significant progress depends on sustained R&D investment and technology innovation.

8. What is the role of NCMM in the Critical Minerals Mission?

   The National Centre for Mineral Materials (NCMM) aims to develop a self-reliant production ecosystem across the value chain—from raw ore extraction to refined materials and final product integration—through strong public-private partnerships.

9. Why is academia–industry linkage essential?

   Weak collaboration between academia and industry has limited the commercial adoption of R&D outcomes. A modular, collaborative model can accelerate innovation, enhance industrial readiness, and promote indigenous technological development.

10. How can India ensure strategic readiness in future technologies?

    By strengthening innovation platforms, scaling up domestic equipment capacity, and promoting cross-sector collaborations, India can achieve long-term strategic resilience in industries dependent on critical minerals.