According to people with knowledge of the issue, the Union Cabinet adopted revisions to the Mines and Minerals (issue and Regulation) Act on July 12 that permit the commercial mining of lithium and five other minerals.
There are allegedly plans to amend India’s Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957 to let private corporations to mine essential minerals. The most recent revisions to this law, the fifth since 2014, are anticipated to lift a prohibition on the private mining of six minerals, including lithium, which is the subject of a geopolitically charged global race for supplies due to China’s dominance in the production of batteries and efforts to snarl the supply chains for electric vehicles (EVs).
Lithium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, titanium, and beryllium are minerals that are used in electronics, communications, the space technology industry, and will also aid India’s energy transformation.
The majority of these minerals are imported because current legislation forbids their commercial exploration and mining. These six minerals will no longer be included on the list of “atomic minerals” thanks to the proposed revisions. They also give the central government the authority to put up for auction mineral concessions and issue exploration permits.
In fact, substantial deposits discovered earlier this year in Jammu and Kashmir, a stockpile that might be as large as 5.9 million tonnes if preliminary estimates are confirmed, could help India reach lithium self-sufficiency and more. The logic of economic liberalisation requires that mining, which has historically been dominated by the state in India, be carried out by those who are best qualified to do so.
Lithium demand is projected to rise significantly as attention turns to sustainable energy and fulfilling India’s promise to achieving net-zero emissions.
