According to Mining.com citing Bloomberg, India is considering establishing a strategic reserve of critical minerals to meet emergency needs for its defense industry.
Rajesh Kumar Singh, a senior official from India’s Ministry of Defense, said the purpose of the reserve is to ensure supply security for critical minerals and metals essential for military applications such as missiles, aircraft, radar, and warships. Any shortage could pose serious risks to defense mobilization.
Singh revealed the plan on Saturday (20th) at a media event organized by Business Standard in New Delhi. This marks the first time India has publicly announced a plan to build such a reserve.
Global rare earth market tensions since April have heightened India’s concerns. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the Indian cabinet approved an incentive program worth 15 billion rupees (approximately USD 170 million) to boost the recycling of critical minerals from batteries and electronic waste, as part of efforts to secure rare earth supplies.
Singh added that earlier this month, rare earth mines were classified as “strategic projects,” enabling them to benefit from streamlined procedures and faster environmental approvals to reduce development bottlenecks.
“Overall, India is quite rich in critical mineral resources, and in the future, we should be able to make better use of these resources,” Singh said.
[Source- 上海有色网] 印度拟建立关键矿产战略储备 https://news.smm.cn/news/103545265
