India’s clean energy transition now hinges on assured access to critical minerals and rare earths—inputs that are indispensable for batteries, electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and advanced electronics. With China tightening export controls and dominating global processing chains, India’s dependence on imports has turned into a strategic vulnerability. Over the past five years, New Delhi has responded by stitching together a web of bilateral and multilateral partnerships across continents. The key question today is whether these engagements are delivering real supply security—or whether India needs to recalibrate its approach.
Why Critical Minerals Are a Strategic Imperative
Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements sit at the heart of India’s decarbonisation and industrial ambitions. Unlike oil or gas, these minerals pose a more complex challenge: access is not just about reserves but also about processing, refining, standards, and technology. China’s dominance across multiple stages of this value chain has forced India, like many other countries, to seek diversification, responsible sourcing and standards-based markets.
A Two-Pronged Strategy: Immediate Access and Long-Term Capability
India’s approach has been dual in nature. In the short term, it seeks overseas access through partnerships, investments and offtake agreements. In the long term, it aims to build domestic capabilities in exploration, processing and recycling. This logic has driven a surge in international engagements alongside reforms in domestic mineral policy. Yet, outcomes have varied widely across partners.
Australia and Japan: Models That Work
Australia stands out as India’s most reliable critical minerals partner. Its political stability, large reserves and strategic alignment have enabled tangible cooperation. Under the India–Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership launched in 2022, both sides identified five lithium and cobalt projects for potential investment, alongside joint research and supply-chain planning.
Japan offers a different but equally valuable template. After China restricted rare earth exports to Tokyo in 2010, Japan responded with diversification, stockpiling, recycling and sustained R&D. Building on long-standing cooperation with Indian Rare Earths Limited, recent agreements now extend to joint extraction, processing and stockpiling—both bilaterally and in third countries. The lesson for India lies in Japan’s institutional, long-term approach rather than deal-by-deal responses.
Africa: Opportunity with Conditions
Africa combines mineral abundance with rising expectations of local value addition. India’s agreements with Namibia on lithium, rare earths and uranium, and asset-acquisition talks in Zambia for copper and cobalt, signal a renewed push. However, Africa is also a competitive arena, with China and Western players moving in a coordinated manner. Without a long-term industrial mindset—covering skills, infrastructure and local processing—India risks being outpaced despite historical goodwill.
The United States and the European Union: Promise with Constraints
Despite political rhetoric around “friend-shoring”, critical minerals cooperation with the United States has struggled to move beyond dialogue. Shifting trade rules, recent tariffs on Indian goods and restrictive incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act complicate stable engagement. Initiatives such as the TRUST Initiative and the Strategic Minerals Recovery Initiative offer frameworks for collaboration in processing and recycling, but policy volatility limits reliability.
The European Union presents a more rules-driven model. Its Critical Raw Materials Act, European Battery Alliance and circular economy agenda show how regulation, sustainability and industrial policy can reinforce each other. For India, deeper engagement with the EU will require alignment with transparency norms, lifecycle standards and environmental regulations—raising the bar but also offering predictability.
West Asia and Russia: Useful but Limited Roles
West Asia lacks mineral reserves but is emerging as a midstream hub. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are investing heavily in refining, battery materials and green hydrogen, backed by sovereign wealth funds acquiring mining assets abroad. For India, the Gulf could become a processing and refining partner rather than a source of raw ore.
Russia, with its substantial reserves of rare earths, cobalt and lithium, offers diversification. However, sanctions, financing constraints and logistical unpredictability limit its reliability. Russia can function as a hedge in India’s strategy, but not as a foundational supplier.
New Frontiers: Latin America and Canada
Latin America has emerged as a new frontier for India’s mineral diplomacy. Countries such as Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil are central to global copper, lithium and nickel strategies. Indian public and private sector investments are growing, with Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) signing a ₹200 crore exploration and development agreement with Argentina. Yet competition is intense, and early-stage engagement will need to evolve into value-chain partnerships with local processing.
With the recent restoration of diplomatic ties, Canada also re-enters India’s strategic calculus. Rich in nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earths, and part of a trilateral minerals framework with Australia and India, Canada could become a strong partner—provided political stability in bilateral relations is sustained.
The Real Bottleneck: Processing and Technology
Across regions, one lesson is clear: securing ore is not enough. The true choke point lies in processing and refining, where China retains overwhelming control. Without domestic midstream capability, India remains exposed even if upstream supplies diversify. Technology, innovation and on-ground project execution matter far more than headline announcements.
India’s country-by-country strategy must therefore map roles clearly:
- Africa, Australia, Canada and Latin America for upstream extraction
- Japan and West Asia for midstream processing and refining
- European Union and the United States for downstream technologies such as batteries and recycling
- Russia as a diversification hedge
Domestic Reforms: The Missing Link
International partnerships will deliver little unless backed by a credible domestic framework. Responsible mining practices, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, transparency and regulatory certainty are now central to global mineral markets. Strengthening these at home is essential for India to be seen as a serious and reliable partner.
What to Note for Prelims?
- Critical minerals: lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earths
- China’s dominance in mineral processing
- India–Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership (2022)
- KABIL’s overseas exploration role
- EU Critical Raw Materials Act
What to Note for Mains?
- Strategic importance of critical minerals for energy transition
- Limits of extraction-only partnerships
- Role of processing and midstream capabilities
- Geopolitics of mineral supply chains
- Need for ESG-aligned domestic mining reforms
India has built an impressive web of critical minerals partnerships. The challenge now is execution—deepening what works, rethinking what does not, and anchoring partnerships in technology, processing and long-term certainty rather than diplomatic symbolism alone.
