In the midst of global competition over rare and critical minerals, China maintains overwhelming dominance across their supply chains—from production and refining to manufacturing. As these minerals increasingly become a tool of geopolitical leverage, countries are seeking ways to reduce their dependence on Beijing. India, as a leading hub for technological industries and a state committed to cutting the carbon emissions of its economy, has been striving to carve out a path that frees it from China’s grip. This is particularly crucial given the role of rare and critical minerals in modern technology, clean energy systems, and defense industries.
According to official 2023 statistics, India relies heavily on imports of rare minerals. Some minerals are sourced 100% from China, while others—such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and silicon—account for as much as 85% of India’s supply. The vulnerability of these supply chains worsened when China imposed export restrictions in April 2025, creating disruptions that hit many countries, including India. This shock accelerated New Delhi’s push to diversify its supply of rare and critical minerals, both through domestic measures and international agreements.
Strengthening Domestic Capabilities
India has undertaken several internal measures to expand exploration, extraction, and refining of rare minerals. Despite being the world’s third-largest holder of reserves, its mining and refining capabilities remain underdeveloped. To address this, New Delhi has pursued legal reforms, investment frameworks, and R&D initiatives across the mineral supply chain. Key efforts include:
1. Encouraging investment in minerals:
In July 2023, the Ministry of Mines released the country’s first list of 30 strategic critical minerals. The following month, Parliament amended the 1957 Mines and Minerals Act, opening greater opportunities for private-sector exploration. The reforms removed six minerals from the list of 12 reserved exclusively for state exploration, allowed public auctions of mining rights, and granted exploration licenses to foreign companies.
On August 19, 2025, Parliament passed further amendments encouraging private investment in critical mineral mining, while restricting investment in non-critical minerals. The reforms also expanded the role of the National Mineral Exploration Trust to include development, granting it authority to finance offshore and overseas projects, and called for the creation of mineral exchanges.
2. Launching investment hubs for critical minerals:
In January 2025, India launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) to reduce reliance on imports. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) was tasked with implementing 1,200 mineral exploration projects between FY 2024–25 and 2030–31. Already, 195 projects were executed last year, with 227 more planned for this year.
India had earlier created KABIL in 2019 by merging three major state-owned mining companies under the Ministry of Mines. Its mandate is to secure overseas assets in exploration, mining, and refining of critical minerals. KABIL has signed agreements with resource-rich countries such as Australia, Chile, and Argentina.
3. Developing refining and recycling industries:
Beyond exploration, the NCMM focuses on research and development, targeting 1,000 patents in critical minerals by 2030—62 of which were already filed by mid-2025. In August 2025, India established seven Centers of Excellence (CoEs) for advanced research and innovation. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Mines has been incubating start-ups in mining, refining, and recycling since 2023. To reinforce this, $170 million was allocated in September 2025 for new recycling facilities, along with pilot projects to recover critical minerals from industrial waste.
Building an External Network for Imports
India has also moved externally to secure its mineral supplies through multilateral partnerships, bilateral deals, and agreements with resource-rich nations—particularly in Latin America and Africa.
1. Joining multilateral frameworks:
Since 2023, India has joined several global coalitions designed to counterbalance China’s dominance. These include the Critical Minerals Alliance and the Mineral Security Partnership (launched in 2022 by the U.S. and 14 advanced economies). India was the first developing country to join the latter, which now includes 23 members. Together, they represent more than double China’s population and include mining leaders such as Australia and Japan—building the foundations of a parallel market.
India is also part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which initiated a critical minerals dialogue in 2023, and in July 2025 joined the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, aimed at diversifying supply chains away from dependence on a single state.
2. Signing bilateral agreements:
India has signed multiple deals to boost investment in mineral supply chains. In March 2023, it launched a partnership with Australia to develop five lithium and cobalt projects, as part of a broader strategic minerals pact first signed in 2020. This was reinforced by the 2022 India-UK Economic and Trade Agreement, which lifted tariffs on certain Australian mineral exports.
In October 2024, India signed a memorandum with the U.S. to strengthen alternative mineral supply chains. Under the UK-India trade pact, a Joint Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory was set up, with additional funding of £1.8 million in August 2025.
3. Partnering with resource-rich countries:
KABIL signed an exploration agreement in January 2024 with Argentina’s CAMYEN to mine lithium in Catamarca Province, later expanded through a February 2025 MoU with the provincial government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 2025 visit to Argentina resulted in a strategic lithium partnership and five new contracts.
In Chile, KABIL secured a 2024 deal for lithium exploration, followed by a May 2025 framework agreement on broader mineral cooperation. Negotiations with Peru for a strategic mineral partnership are also ongoing.
In Africa, India announced agreements in July 2025 with a wide range of mineral-rich countries—Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Madagascar, the DRC, Tanzania, Namibia, and South Africa. These cover exploration, mining, and scientific cooperation, implemented either directly by the government or via Indian private companies.
Outlook
While India has moved decisively at both domestic and international levels to secure critical minerals, experts caution that short- and medium-term risks remain, given China’s entrenched dominance in global supply chains. Still, recent initiatives show that New Delhi is laying the legal, investment, and technological groundwork to mobilize domestic resources while simultaneously expanding its global partnerships.
India’s twin approach—building a multilateral network with advanced economies like Australia, the UK, Japan, and the U.S., while forging mining partnerships with developing resource-rich nations—creates the basis for a new alternative market to China’s monopoly.
At the same time, India’s domestic reserves present an opportunity to attract allied investment into its own mining sector, which could help its partners ease their own mineral shortages. The challenge, however, lies in balancing economic nationalism with strategic autonomy and managing the trade-offs among competing alliances. For now, India’s path toward independence in critical minerals remains uncertain—but its multi-layered strategy signals an ambition to reshape the global supply chain landscape.
