India Country Commercial Guide
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Mining and Critical Minerals
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Overview 

India’s critical minerals sector is growing, creating opportunities for U.S. equipment and services exporters.
This growth is aligned with increasing global demand for minerals that are essential components of many of today’s rapidly growing energy technologies—from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles. India’s ambition to achieve energy independence and reduce reliance on imports from China, which currently dominates the critical minerals market further underscores its growth. 

Beyond the renewable energy sector, critical minerals are vital for national security and are key components in defense systems, aerospace, and missile technology. The electronics and semiconductor industries rely on them for chip manufacturing, batteries, and communication devices. The automobile and electric vehicle sectors benefit from these minerals for lightweight alloys, catalytic converters, wiring, sensors, and electrical components. Additionally, infrastructure and steel industries depend on critical minerals like vanadium and nickel for durable construction materials. The aerospace and space sectors use them for satellites and aircraft, while the healthcare industry requires them for medical imaging, radiation therapy, and pharmaceuticals. Digital transformation, including 5G and fiber-optic networks, also substantially relies on rare earth elements. 
The Government of India (GOI) is focused on increasing mining and processing critical minerals in India to reduce dependency on foreign supply chains and insulate the country from market fluctuations. As India continues to expand its industrial and technological capabilities, ensuring a stable supply of critical minerals is key to sustaining growth across sectors.

In 2022, India’s Ministry of Mines identified 30 critical minerals:  antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, PGE, phosphorous, potash, REE, rhenium, silicon, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, selenium, and cadmium to strengthen national security, secure high-tech and clean energy supply chains, and to reduce import dependence.

In January 2025, India’s Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the launch of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM). The initiative focuses on securing and ensuring a steady supply of critical minerals required for economic growth and technological advancements. Furthermore, a new Tailings Policy is set to be implemented, aimed at extracting critical minerals like gallium, tellurium, and selenium from overburden dumps and tailings to maximize resource utilization.

The Government of India (GOI) is aware that domestic mineral production alone will not fill India’s need. By 2031, only 10% of the national annual demand for critical minerals is expected to be met domestically. For this reason, one of NCMM’s key objectives is to acquire overseas mineral assets and expand India’s global partnerships and cooperation. 

India’s international cooperation in the critical minerals space has seen significant advancements through its involvement in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP). The QUAD, comprising the United States, India, Japan, and Australia, has increasingly focused on critical minerals as part of its strategic and economic cooperation. 

Collaborative efforts include sharing the best practices, investing in joint research and development, and exploring opportunities for sustainable mining and processing. India joined the MSP in June 2023 as the 14th member and the only developing nation in the coalition, further bolstering and securing critical mineral supply chains to support economic objectives. Most recently, the United States and India announced the Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership and Accelerated Commerce and Technology (COMPACT) initiative for the 21st Century, which will drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation underpinned by the recognition of the strategic importance of critical minerals for emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing.  

The development of a robust critical minerals value chain in India will require financial support to build out exploration, mining, processing, manufacturing, and recycling projects, as well as research and human resources development. In 2015, the GOI set up the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) to fund sector related activities. Moreover, the GOI seeks investment from international institutions and encourages collaborative projects with other countries and international institutions to achieve their objectives.

The elimination of customs duties by the GOI on most critical minerals in the 2025-26 Union budget is a welcome move and will boost the imports of critical minerals into the country. Additionally, India approved $1.88 billion in its budget to develop its critical minerals sector and expects an additional investment of $2.1 billion from the critical minerals public sector. 

However, some challenges remain. In 2024, India cancelled the auction for 14 blocks of critical minerals as no bids were received.
 

Sub-sector Best Prospects

Promising subsectors in the critical minerals and mining sector include:

  • Artificial Intelligence: AI for optimized mining operations, enhanced sustainability, and improved decision-making
    -   Exploration & Mining of Critical Minerals: lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, Rare Earth Elements (REEs), titanium, tungsten, vanadium
    -   Defense
  • Mineral Processing & Refining: The midstream stage of mineral production
  • Lithium-ion Battery Value Chain: Focusing on electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy storage
    -   Semiconductor and High-Tech Component Manufacturing: Key minerals like gallium, germanium, tantalum, and tin used in setting up extraction units for semiconductor production
  • Recycling: Materials recycling
     
  • Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an increasingly vital role in the critical minerals sector, enhancing efficiency, sustainability, and decision-making across the value chain. In mining operations, AI-powered systems optimize extraction methods, monitor equipment health, and ensure worker safety through predictive analytics and automation. As global demand for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements surges, AI emerges as a transformative tool for securing reliable, responsible, and resilient supply chains.To integrate AI into mineral exploration, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and IndiaAI have initiated the ‘AI for Mineral Targeting’ Hackathon, aiming to identify new potential areas for exploration of critical minerals like rare earth elements, nickel, and copper within a 39,000 sq. km area in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. These initiatives underscore India’s commitment to leveraging AI and sustainable practices to build resilient and self-reliant critical minerals supply chain.
     
  • Exploration & Mining of Critical Minerals: To expand exploration and mining activities, the GOI plans to undertake 1,200 exploration projects between 2024-2031. The Geological Survey of India has undertaken 195 exploration projects for critical and strategic minerals in the financial year 2024-25, a 53% increase compared to the previous year. Despite offering 49 mineral blocks for bidding and successfully auctioning 24, concerns remain about India’s ability to achieve self-sufficiency in critical minerals due to uncertainty surrounding the resource potential in these blocks. GOI additionally plans to enhance the expenditure from the NMET through the public sector and has notified private exploration agencies in exploration minerals blocks. Before the end of 2031, enhancements in the existing budget will allow for $345 million to be allocated to critical mineral exploration under NMET, along with $460 million from the regular budget.The Ministry of Mines introduced the Exploration License (EL) for deep-seated and critical minerals in July 2023, allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the mining and exploration sectors through the automatic route. Despite no significant FDI received yet, the new bill aims to attract international mining companies by granting licenses through auctions for exploration of minerals such as gold, platinum group elements, and rare earth elements. The amendment is expected to create a favorable legal environment, bringing in global expertise and technologies for geological data acquisition and mineral discovery.Currently, India produces only four critical minerals—copper, graphite, phosphorous, and titanium (Ilmenite and Rutile)—due to limited exploration and lack of proper infrastructure and processing technology.
     
  • Defense: Critical minerals, including rare earth elements (REEs), titanium, cobalt, beryllium, and tungsten, are essential for advanced military technologies. These minerals are vital for precision in radar, sonar, and guidance systems, and are integral to the production of magnets used in precision-guided munitions. India collaborates with the US, Japan, and Australia through the Quad partnership to strengthen critical mineral supply chains for defense applications. Cobalt is in high demand for use in hypersonic engines, UAVs, radar domes, and submarine propulsion. Currently, most of the world’s cobalt is refined by China.
     
  • Mineral Processing & Refining: During the midstream stage of mineral production, mined mineral ore is processed and refined into high-purity metals and materials for end products. This stage of the supply chain is currently dominated by China. The mineral processing machinery market in India is growing due to increasing demand for minerals, rapid industrialization, and government initiatives promoting mining activities. India is self-sufficient in iron ore, bauxite, chromite, limestone and a few other major minerals, but is deficient in magnesite, manganese, rock phosphate, and copper (to an extent). India lacks the latest technological expertise of mineral processing, specifically metallurgical extraction technologies for Rare Earth Elements, lithium, cobalt and other critical minerals. Key machinery types include crushers (jaw crushers, cone crushers, impact crushers), grinding mills (ball mills, rod mills, vertical roller mills), screens and classifiers, flotation machines, magnetic separators, and thickening and filtering equipment. Key equipment such as crushers, grinders, classifiers, and flotation machines is witnessing increased adoption in the mining sector, accounting for nearly 40% of the total machinery demand. The major players in the Indian market for processing and refining are Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery, Thyssenkrupp Industries, FLSmidth India, Outotec India, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), McNally Bharat Engineering, and Puzzolana Machinery Fabricators.   
                
  • Lithium-ion Battery Value Chain: Lithium, essential for EV batteries, grid storage, and defense applications, is predominantly controlled by China, which manages 60% of the world’s lithium refining and processing. India, currently the third largest internal combustion engine car market globally, is shifting towards e-mobility due to government incentives like the FAME program. The Indian EV market, valued at $5.22 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to $18.31 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 28.5%, creating opportunities for EV battery technologies, battery management systems (BMS), and battery energy storage systems (BESS). In response, India is promoting private sector investment in lithium refining to support EV battery manufacturing through government-backed incentives. While lithium-ion batteries (LiB) have been the primary choice for EVs in India, fire incidents have prompted the industry to explore alternative technologies such as nickel and cobalt chemistry. Industry journals estimate that Indian demand for EV lithium batteries will surge from 4 GWh in 2023 to 139 GWh by 2035, driven largely by the light vehicle segment. 
     
  • Semiconductor and High-Tech Component Manufacturing: India offers potentially significant opportunities for international companies in the semiconductor sector due to government incentives, a growing market, and an evolving supply chain ecosystem. The government has introduced several initiatives to support this industry, including the Semicon India Program, a $10 billion initiative to boost semiconductor manufacturing, and the Production-Linked Incentives (PLI) Scheme, which offers financial incentives for chip manufacturing and related industries. Additionally, the Design-Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme supports semiconductor design and innovation, while the Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters help develop manufacturing clusters with infrastructure support. Key opportunities for international companies include selling equipment that supports fabrication and outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing facilities, setting up semiconductor fabrication, and back-end processing (OSAT) units with government support, supplying raw materials, and chemicals needed for semiconductor manufacturing, investing in R&D centers for semiconductor design, AI chips, and IoT applications, and providing training and skill development programs in semiconductor fabrication and VLSI design. Key minerals like gallium, germanium, tantalum, and tin are essential for setting up extraction units for semiconductor production.
     
  • Recycling: Over the past two years, the GOI has launched several initiatives to address challenges in the critical minerals sector, focusing on beneficiation, processing, and recovery from end-of-life products through the NCMM. The mission includes setting up processing parks, recycling critical minerals, and encouraging investment in advanced recycling technologies, particularly through “urban mining” of e-waste, despite the current lack of dedicated recycling yards in India. Through informal scrap markets and emerging start-ups, critical mineral recycling in India is concentrated on extracting valuable metals from discarded electronics like phones, laptops, and batteries, often through informal recycling networks. Despite the dominance of the informal sector, there are opportunities to standardize recycling infrastructure and fulfill the need for technological advancements to efficiently extract critical minerals from complex waste streams. Additionally, the United States and India are deepening their cooperation in the exploration, beneficiation, processing and recycling technologies of critical minerals by accelerating research and development collaboration and promoting investment via the Strategic Mineral Recovery Initiative. 

Opportunities 

Opportunities for U.S. companies in India’s critical minerals and mining sector are manifold. U.S. technology providers can play a crucial role by exploring potential partnerships with Indian companies for their advanced processing and extraction techniques to support India’s efforts to develop domestic capabilities—especially in the processing of lithium and rare earth elements. The Geological Survey of India (GSI), in 2023, discovered 5.9 million metric tons of lithium reserves in Jammu and Kashmir, but due to a lack of necessary processing infrastructure, India is unable to refine and extract lithium at scale, relying heavily on imports from countries like China, Australia, and Argentina for its refined lithium needs. By supplying state-of-the-art equipment and digital supply chain management solutions, U.S. companies can help optimize the efficiency of mineral beneficiation processes and address technical challenges associated with low-grade ores, thus bridging a critical gap in India’s critical minerals value chain. 

One challenge for U.S. mining machinery companies is that the Indian market is more focused on the acquisition cost of machinery and less swayed by the idea of purchasing machinery that costs less to operate and extracts and moves more material. As a result, many companies look for the least priced machine and are oblivious to the fact that U.S. machines are more productive and less prone to maintenance.

The most attractive niche sector for U.S. exports is high-end, specialized coal mining equipment. India’s coal mining industry accounts for 80% of its demand for mining equipment, especially equipment used in open-pit mines, which account for 90% of India’s coal mining operations. China has been the primary foreign supplier of mining equipment in recent years.

India’s critical minerals and mining sector presents significant opportunities for U.S. businesses across the value chain, notably in exploration and mining, processing, and recycling. With the right strategies and partnerships, U.S. companies can successfully navigate this dynamic market and capitalize on the growth opportunities presented by India.

For more information on tapping India’s energy sector opportunities, please contact U.S. Commercial Service Industry Specialist Shamli Menon.
 

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