Mineral Security | Geopolitics | Clean Energy Transition | Odisha's Strategic Role

Study OAS Prism |  6 August 2026

The phrase 'critical mineral' did not exist in mainstream governance vocabulary twenty years ago. Today, it sits at the intersection of energy security, national security, economic sovereignty, and climate diplomacy. The transition from a fossil fuel economy to a clean energy economy is not merely a technological shift — it is a resource shift. Solar panels require silver and tellurium. Wind turbines need rare earth elements such as neodymium for permanent magnets. Electric vehicles (EVs) consume lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite. Semiconductor chips, essential for everything from smartphones to defence guidance systems, depend on gallium, germanium, silicon, and indium.

Unlike coal or oil — which are consumed upon burning — critical minerals are locked inside finished products for years. They cannot be substituted easily. Their global deposits are unevenly distributed, their processing is concentrated in the hands of a few nations, and their supply chains are geopolitically fragile. India, which has set targets of 500 GW non-fossil energy capacity by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2070, cannot afford to ignore this reality. The country currently imports 100% of its requirements for lithium, cobalt, and nickel — three minerals that are the backbone of the EV battery ecosystem.

This is not a distant concern. It is an emergency being managed in slow motion. That is the context in which the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) must be understood.

A mineral is classified as 'critical' when it meets two simultaneous conditions: it is economically important to a nation's strategic sectors, and its supply is vulnerable to disruption. Vulnerability can arise from geographic concentration of deposits, monopolistic processing capacity, trade dependencies, or geopolitical tension with supplying nations.

India formally identified 30 critical minerals through a structured three-stage methodology developed in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA). The process involved reviewing international lists from the US (50 minerals), EU (34), Japan (31), and Canada (31), consulting across key ministries — Power, Atomic Energy, Renewable Energy, Electronics, and Defence — and applying an empirical criticality formula calibrated to India's specific development needs.

India's 30 Critical Minerals (Ministry of Mines, 2023)

Of these 30, five are considered most vulnerable from a supply chain perspective: lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements (REEs). India currently imports 100% of its lithium, cobalt, and nickel requirements. Only about 10–20% of India's estimated critical mineral geological potential has been explored, representing both a massive gap and a significant opportunity.

The Union Cabinet approved the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) on 29 January 2025. It is a seven-year mission (FY2024–25 to FY2030–31) with a total financial outlay of ?34,300 crore — comprising ?16,300 crore of direct government expenditure and an expected co-investment of ?18,000 crore from public sector undertakings (PSUs) and private entities. The mission's ambition is to secure India's position across the entire critical minerals value chain: from geological exploration through mining, beneficiation, processing, recycling, and downstream manufacturing.

NCMM: Budget Allocation Across Components

3.1  Progress Under the Mission

• 523 exploration projects initiated since April 2024 by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
• 59 critical mineral blocks auctioned across 12 states under 5 successive auction tranches.
• 56 blocks auctioned in the largest tranche to date (June 2026), including lithium-bearing blocks in Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh.
• ?1,500 crore recycling scheme approved and rolled out to incentivise end-of-life recovery.
• KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd) acquired 15,703 hectares in Argentina's lithium-rich Puna region; production targeted by end-2029.
• Separate environmental clearance window created on the PARIVESH portal specifically for critical mineral projects.
• Van Rules amended (effective August 31, 2025) to expedite forest clearance for critical mineral exploration.

Understanding why India is building the NCMM at such scale requires confronting one uncomfortable statistic: China controls approximately 60% of global rare earth element (REE) production and over 86% of global processing capacity for the critical minerals that matter most to the clean energy economy. This dominance was not accidental — it was the product of a deliberate decades-long strategy to acquire resource assets abroad while building a domestic processing industrial base.

China's dominance creates a structural vulnerability in global supply chains that India cannot remain exposed to. In 2010, when China briefly restricted rare earth exports to Japan during a maritime dispute, Japanese industries dependent on REEs faced near-crisis conditions. India, which is simultaneously deepening its border tensions with China and accelerating its EV and semiconductor manufacturing ambitions, cannot afford the same vulnerability.

India's specific exposure includes: 100% import dependence for lithium, cobalt, and nickel; significant reliance on Chinese-processed graphite (China controls ~79% of global synthetic graphite production); and complete dependence on imports for gallium and germanium — both of which China has already restricted for export in 2023, signalling how minerals can be weaponised in trade conflicts.

5.1  Minerals Security Partnership (MSP)

India joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) as its 14th member, making it the only developing country in this US-led grouping. Established in June 2022, the MSP brings together the US, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, Italy, the European Commission, and India. Its objective is to ensure critical minerals are produced, processed, and recycled in a manner that builds secure, diversified supply chains — explicitly countering China's dominance.

India's MSP membership grants access to advanced geological mapping technologies, exploration expertise, financing frameworks, and knowledge-sharing arrangements that would otherwise take decades to develop domestically.

5.2  KABIL and Overseas Asset Acquisition

KABIL — Khanij Bidesh India Limited — is a joint venture formed by three major Indian PSUs: National Aluminium Company (NALCO), Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited (MECL). KABIL's mandate is to identify, explore, and acquire overseas mineral assets in lithium, cobalt, and other critical minerals.

• Argentina: 15,703 hectares acquired in the Puna lithium-bearing province; production expected by end-2029.
• Australia and Chile: Active exploration for opportunities in copper, lithium, and cobalt.
• Government backstops KABIL's exploration risk through ?5,600 crore budget allocation under NCMM.

Mining in India is governed through the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 — a law rooted in the constitutional position that 'Regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest' falls under Entry 54 of the Union List (Seventh Schedule). However, actual mineral rights — particularly minor minerals — are managed by states under Entry 23 of the State List, creating a layered federal structure.

The MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 introduced four transformative changes specifically for critical minerals:

• Declassification of Atomic Minerals: Six minerals previously reserved for government entities — beryllium, lithium, niobium, tantalum, titanium, and zirconium — were declassified from the atomic minerals list and made available to the private sector through the new Exploration Licence framework. This was a historic shift, reversing decades of protectionist exclusion.
• Exploration Licence (EL): A new licensing category was created allowing exploration (reconnaissance + prospecting) over areas up to 1,000 sq km, valid for 5 years. The licensee receives a financial share in the subsequent mining lease auction value, creating incentives for private risk-taking in exploration.
• Central Government Auction Authority: For critical and strategic minerals (including lithium, cobalt, nickel, phosphate, and potash), the auction of Composite Licences and Mining Leases was transferred from state governments to the Central Government. This ensures strategic coherence but reduces state revenue discretion.
• Fast-Track Clearances: Critical mineral projects were classified as 'projects of security and strategic importance' — exempting them from mandatory public hearings under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process and expediting forest clearance through amended Van Rules.

Among all Indian states, Odisha occupies a uniquely strategic position in the national critical minerals architecture — not merely as a mineral-bearing state, but as a designated processing hub, a research hub, and a potential rare earth corridor. Understanding Odisha's role requires examining both what the state has in the ground and what is now being built above it.

7.1  Odisha's Critical Mineral Endowment: What Lies Beneath

Odisha's Share in India's Key Mineral Reserves

7.2  Paradip: Odisha's Critical Mineral Processing Hub

Under the NCMM, Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district has been selected as one of four national critical mineral processing parks — the others being in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. The Paradip facility will be developed within the existing Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), leveraging its industrial ecosystem.

The strategic logic of choosing Paradip is compelling. Its deep-water port capability allows efficient receipt of imported mineral concentrates and export of processed materials. The surrounding industrial cluster — already hosting steel, aluminium, chemicals, and petrochemical industries — provides ready infrastructure for downstream manufacturing. The four parks together share a ?500 crore NCMM allocation for initial infrastructure, with private investment expected to multiply this significantly.

Paradip's emergence as a processing hub positions Odisha not merely as a raw material exporter — the role the state has historically played — but as a value-added manufacturer of strategic materials. This shift has profound implications for Odisha's industrial profile, employment potential, and revenue generation.

7.3  CSIR-IMMT Bhubaneswar: Odisha as a Research Node

The CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT), located in Bhubaneswar, has been designated as one of nine national Centres of Excellence (CoE) under the NCMM. CSIR-IMMT already has India's most advanced research capability in mineral processing, beneficiation technologies, and materials science for minerals. Its CoE designation channels dedicated NCMM R&D funding toward Odisha, strengthening the state's role not just in production but in intellectual leadership of India's minerals strategy.

7.4  Mineral Block Auctions: Odisha's FY2026–27 Pipeline

Odisha has announced 34 mineral blocks for auction in FY2026–27 — its most ambitious annual auction calendar to date. Among these, 9 blocks contain critical and strategic minerals including graphite, vanadium, manganese, polymetallic base metals, and tin deposits. The auction spans 12 districts: Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Balangir, Rayagada, Koraput, Nuapada, Nayagarh, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Subarnapur, and Malkangiri. Cumulative auction revenues from ongoing and upcoming rounds are estimated to exceed ?60,000 crore.

7.5  Rare Earth Corridor: Union Budget 2026–27 Announcement

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced dedicated rare earth corridors in the Union Budget 2026–27, covering four states: Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. This is a significant acknowledgement of Odisha's rare earth potential — particularly given that the state's coastal and inland belt contains deposits of titanium-bearing heavy mineral sands (ilmenite, rutile, zircon) as well as REE-bearing phosphate formations. The corridors will receive preferential clearance status and dedicated infrastructure investment.

A mission of the NCMM's ambition must be assessed not only for what it promises but for the difficulties it is likely to encounter:

• Environmental Costs of Fast-Track Clearances: Exempting critical mineral projects from public hearings under the EIA process raises serious concerns. Odisha's own Sukinda Valley — the world's largest chromite deposit — was historically classified among the world's ten most polluted sites due to hexavalent chromium contamination from unregulated mining. Accelerating clearances without adequate public scrutiny risks repeating this tragedy in new geographies.
• Tribal Rights and PESA Compliance: A disproportionate share of critical mineral deposits — in Odisha and nationally — lies in Scheduled Tribe-dominated areas. The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) mandate gram sabha consent for forest land diversion. Bypassing these protections for 'strategic importance' creates legal and ethical contradictions.
• Processing Capacity Gap: Auctioning mineral blocks is meaningless without building domestic processing capacity. India's weakness has historically been its inability to move beyond mining raw ore. The four processing parks under NCMM are a start, but the scale is modest compared to China's decades-built refining ecosystem.
• Geological Exploration Deficit: Only 10–20% of India's critical mineral geological potential has been systematically explored. The GSI's 523 ongoing projects are welcome but insufficient. Deep-seated deposits below 300 metres remain largely unmapped.
• Price and Market Risk in Foreign Acquisitions: KABIL's Argentina lithium investment carries commodity price risk. Lithium prices have been volatile. A price crash could make the acquisition economically unviable, and the government backstop of ?5,600 crore ultimately exposes public funds.

The Expert Committee on Critical Minerals and the NCMM framework itself provide clear pointers. The path forward requires action on several simultaneous fronts:

• Build Domestic Processing Before Depending on Imports: The Paradip and other processing parks must be commissioned with urgency. India should aim to process at least 40% of its critical mineral requirements domestically by 2030 — a target that requires immediate industrial action, not just policy announcements.
• Invest in Deep Geological Mapping: GSI's exploration mandate must be expanded with modern airborne geophysical surveys, satellite-based mapping, and deep-drilling programmes. The Geological Survey of India needs a structural budget increase commensurate with the NCMM's ambitions.
• Operationalise CSIR-IMMT's CoE Mandate: Bhubaneswar's CSIR-IMMT should lead applied research in battery-grade material purification, rare earth separation chemistry, and critical mineral recycling — fields where India has almost no indigenous capability today.
• Ensure PESA and FRA Compliance in Odisha's Tribal Districts: Gram sabha consultations in districts like Koraput, Malkangiri, and Rayagada must precede, not follow, mineral block auctions. Legal clarity on forest rights is a prerequisite for investment certainty, not a bureaucratic obstacle.
• Leverage India's Own Strengths: India possesses natural advantages — 98% of global chromite supply potential (largely in Odisha's Sukinda Valley), the world's fifth-largest bauxite reserves, and significant titanium-bearing heavy mineral sands. These must be converted into value-added exports rather than raw material shipments.
• Diversify International Partnerships: Beyond MSP membership, India should negotiate offtake agreements and joint processing ventures with resource-rich nations in Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo for cobalt; Zambia for copper), Latin America (Argentina and Chile for lithium), and Australia (multiple minerals). Bilateral agreements must be convertible into guaranteed supply contracts.