Critical Minerals: Exploring India’s Options At Home, Beyond

NEW DELHI: The disruption of global supply chains due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent Ukraine crisis could derail India’s plans to become a net zero nation by 2070. Net zero essentially means achieving zero emissions of greenhouse gases—the main culprit behind climate change—by using clean (non-fossil fuel) energy and removing or absorbing the remaining emissions using cutting edge technology. To achieve this, however, requires large amounts of critical minerals. Lithium and graphite, key ingredients for batteries of electric vehicles, are just two of them. In a paper titled ‘Assessing the Criticality of Minerals for India 2023’, the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) defines critical minerals as ‘mineral resources, both primary and processed, which are essential inputs in the production process of an economy, and whose supplies are likely to be disrupted due to risks of non-availability or unaffordable spikes’....Read More