NITI Aayog Working On Incentives, Policy Framework To Accelerate Critical Mineral Mining

New Delhi, Jul 2 (KNN) NITI Aayog is developing policy recommendations on royalty structures and incentive mechanisms to boost critical mineral extraction and strengthen India’s value chain, Anupam Lahiri, Principal Director (Minerals) and Additional Director General, said on Wednesday, as demand from clean energy and advanced technology sectors rises.

Speaking at the 15th India Minerals and Metals Forum, Lahiri stated, "We are working on policy prescriptions. One aspect is what the royalty should be so that state governments are compensated, but more importantly, how incentivisation can come for the mine owner so that they can invest in extracting the critical minerals."

Recycling as a Strategic Pillar

He noted that recycling had emerged as a key pillar of India's critical minerals strategy. 

A committee is mapping the entire value chain for recovering critical minerals from battery waste, e-waste, and mining waste, identifying costs and revenue streams at each stage to design appropriate incentives. It is expected to submit an implementation plan to the Ministry of Mines, Lahiri said.

He emphasised that, "The main problem what we are facing is the collection space. From different households and institutional areas till the critical mineral is recovered, the total value chain we require to map. Only then we can have some policy as to what incentive or at which stage the incentive can be given." 

India already generates significant volumes of battery and e-waste, with volumes expected to grow further, and stakeholder consultations are underway to develop a practical recycling framework, Lahiri added.

Exploration and Processing Constraints

Around 5,000 mineral blocks are currently under exploration or at various stages of assessment across the country. However, Lahiri noted that converting mineral resources into mineable reserves takes time, making overseas asset acquisition another important pillar of India's strategy in the interim. 

Indian public sector companies are already pursuing critical mineral projects in Australia and Argentina.

He flagged a supply security challenge posed by resource-rich countries that permit mining but restrict the export of raw ore, requiring in-country processing before export — a constraint that complicates India's access to upstream critical mineral supplies.

Technology Scaling Key to Cost Reduction

Lahiri said scaling up indigenous technologies would be essential to bringing down costs and strengthening India's critical mineral ecosystem, noting that technologies at early stages of development remain expensive unless deployed at commercial scale. 

"The only problem is that the scale. If the technology can be scaled then only the cost can come down," he stated.

(KNN Bureau)