India Strengthens Global hookups on Critical Minerals and Rare Earths
India has held addresses with several countries to concertedly explore, mine, process and reclaim critical minerals similar as lithium and rare worlds, sources said on Friday.
Strategic partnerships and policy reforms position India as a key player in securing global critical mineral and rare earth supply chains
India is reaching out to Brazil, Canada, France and the Netherlands. Moving away from China is one motivation, while strengthening its energy transition push is another.
These minerals include lithium and rare earth minerals, and India has also sought technology to process these India-China critical minerals dependence, the sources said on condition of anonymity because the information is confidential.
“We have made requests and are talking to France, Netherlands and Brazil while the Canada agreement is under active consideration,” one of the sources said.
India critical minerals deals international negotiations are being spearheaded by the Ministry of Mines, the sources added.
Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney will arrive in India early next month and is likely to sign agreements on uranium, energy, minerals and artificial intelligence.
In response to a query, Canada’s department of Natural Resources directed Mint to a statement it had issued in January. “During the meeting, both countries agreed to formalize cooperation on critical minerals in the coming weeks,” it had said.
In a timely, holistic and well researched read, ‘Liberating Leading Edge Technology: A Hope For India’s (hydrogen) Future?’ authored by Amit K Pant not only recognizes Budget 2026 critical minerals mission India’s Atma Nirbharta from domestic sources but sensibly recommends taking a calibrated, several-pronged approach to create an integrated ecosystem – setting up a critical minimum defence-inducing capacity and stockpiles while it works towards the future “mines to magnets” ecosystem. It will also have to consider game-changing substitutes such as Iron Nitride magnets and ‘urban mining’.
