Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India is in discussions with several countries, including the US, to establish partnerships and collaborations for processing and development of critical minerals according to domestic requirements. He said India will have free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries globally to secure greater access to critical minerals which are increasingly important for electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, renewable energy, defence equipment, telecommunications and electronics.
The minister said India is also part of the US-led Pax Silica strategic alliance, which seeks to build resilient supply chains for critical minerals and artificial intelligence. These are a group of minerals that are fundamental for modern industries. He said the critical minerals sector has supply risks as its production and processing are concentrated in limited number of countries, with China playing a dominant role. For example, lithium, cobalt and nickel are used in batteries; rare earth elements are used in magnets for EVs, wind turbines and electronics; while gallium and germanium are important for semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
He said for India, securing reliable access to these minerals is important to reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities, support domestic manufacturing and accelerate the clean-energy transition. He said ‘with several of our partners in UK and Europe, we are in dialogue about how we can build resilient supply chains.’
