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Time to take a decisive step in rare earth minerals exploration: Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Union Ministry of Mines
May 02, 2023
India must leverage its
strategic relationships to access and extract rare earth elements: Subhrakant
Panda, FICCI President
New Delhi, May 2, 2023 - At the launch of the
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Report on
"New Age Energy Minerals," Mr Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary of the
Ministry of Mines, Government of India, expressed his enthusiasm for
the potential of India's energy mineral sector.
Mr Bharadwaj highlighted the importance of
energy minerals in the transition towards a net-zero future and cited the
example of Ilmenite, a mineral abundant in India. Despite holding 11% of the
world's deposits, India imports a billion dollars worth of titanium dioxide
yearly. He attributed this to technological inefficiencies, and litigation.
To unlock the sector's potential, Mr Bharadwaj
emphasised the need to open the sector to private players, encourage domestic
exploration, and adopt efficient technologies. He also touched upon the
challenges faced by the offshore mining industry and noted that the government
is taking decisive steps to amend the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and
Regulation) Act, 2002.
"I think the government, which is very decisive,
very proactive, is in the process of amending the Offshore Areas Act that was
put in the public domain for consultations. The consultations are now over, and
it will be shortly debated by the Parliament," said Mr Bharadwaj.
In his speech, Mr Bharadwaj drew
comparisons between India and other nations like the United Kingdom, Canada,
and China to illustrate the significance of critical minerals on the global
stage. He mentioned that each country identifies its critical minerals based on
its resource endowments, citing the United Kingdom's 18 identified minerals and
Canada's 31. He highlighted the importance of developing India's critical
minerals sector, leveraging the country's vast resources, and modernising policies
to create a sustainable and competitive industry.
In his keynote address, FICCI President Mr
Subhrakant Panda emphasised the importance of mining for India's GDP and
underscored the potential of new-age energy minerals in supporting the
country's growth. However, Panda acknowledged the challenges of extracting and
exploiting these minerals and called for ongoing exploration, enhanced
technology adoption, and increased efficiencies to augment production.
"India must leverage its strategic relationships to
access and extract these resources," Mr Panda said.
He called for the development of integrated mining and
supply chains to achieve the vision of a self-reliant India, or Atmanirbhar
Bharat. He underscored India's import dependency on these minerals. Mr Panda
urged the formulation of a long-term strategy to meet the demand surge in
future.
Specific recommendations from the FICCI President
included enhancing exploration, incentivising R&D for developing
beneficiation technology, and encouraging collaboration between central and
state governments and the private sector. He said that by addressing these
challenges and focusing on strategic mineral development, India can move closer
to achieving self-reliance and uninterrupted access to the critical minerals
necessary for its growth.
On occasion, MrPankaj Satija, Co-Chair, FICCI
Mining Committee and Managing Director, Tata Steel Mining, highlighted the
growing demand for minerals. He pointed that Western Australia has committed
$14 million to accelerate new-age minerals exploration, and Germany has opened
new mines in the Black Forest area after 27 years.
FICCI Secretary General, Mr Shailesh Pathak also spoke on occasion.
FICCI report on New Age Energy Minerals, launched at
the event, provides a detailed overview of geographical and geological data,
value chains, end-use sectors, applications, market outlook, and long-term
demand for each mineral, along with challenges, opportunities, and key
recommendations.