{"id":60150,"date":"2025-08-20T10:54:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=60150"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:02:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:32:04","slug":"mining-of-critical-minerals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/mining-of-critical-minerals\/","title":{"rendered":"Rajya Sabha Clears Bill Allowing Mining of Critical Minerals"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Critical Minerals Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Rajya Sabha has passed the <\/span><b>Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, allowing leaseholders to mine critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel without paying additional royalty.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has taken a decisive step towards securing its <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/critical-minerals\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Critical Mineral<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> supply chain by passing the <\/span><b>Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The legislation, cleared by the Rajya Sabha after its passage in the Lok Sabha on August 12, empowers mining leaseholders to extract rare and critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel without paying additional royalty.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This reform is positioned as a cornerstone for India\u2019s ambitions in clean energy, technology, and strategic industries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>About the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, 2025<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its key provision allows existing leaseholders to diversify operations by adding critical minerals to their portfolio.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These minerals are essential inputs for advanced technologies, including <\/span><b>electric vehicles, semiconductors, renewable energy storage, and aerospace applications<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, the Bill strengthens the Union government\u2019s powers to promote the development of mineral markets through the creation of <\/span><b>mineral exchanges<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ensuring transparency and efficient trading.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Significance of the Reform<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Strengthening Resource Security<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Lithium, cobalt, and nickel are indispensable for batteries, electronics, and green technologies, making domestic mining critical to reduce import dependence.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Boost to Clean Energy Transition<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Access to critical minerals underpins India\u2019s <\/span><b>EV revolution, solar manufacturing, and renewable integration<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Support for Strategic Sectors<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; From smartphones to fighter jets, these minerals are essential for India\u2019s industrial and defence ecosystems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ease of Doing Business<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; By removing the burden of additional royalty, the Bill incentivises companies to invest in exploration and development.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The National Critical Mineral Mission<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Coal and Mines Ministry highlighted that the government has identified <\/span><b>24 critical and strategic minerals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To support this effort, the <\/span><b>National Critical Mineral Mission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has been launched with an outlay of <\/span><b>Rs. 34,000 crore<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, focusing on boosting domestic exploration and production, including offshore reserves.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>National Mineral Exploration Trust<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has also been renamed as the <\/span><b>National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, signalling a stronger emphasis on both exploration and industrial development.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Challenges Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Environmental Risks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Critical mineral mining could impact fragile ecosystems and water resources.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Global Competition<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; India must match international players already dominating the mineral supply chains.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Technological Capacity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Scaling up exploration and refining requires cutting-edge technologies and significant investment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Geopolitical Sensitivities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Securing critical minerals is tied to global strategic competition, especially with China\u2019s dominance in rare earth processing.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Future Outlook<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The passage of the Bill is expected to transform India\u2019s mining sector into a <\/span><b>strategic pillar for economic growth and self-reliance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By linking resource extraction with the goals of <\/span><b>energy transition, Make in India, and national security<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, India is positioning itself as a serious player in the global critical minerals market.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the success of the initiative will depend on <\/span><b>balancing industrial ambitions with environmental safeguards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, building <\/span><b>domestic refining capacities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and ensuring <\/span><b>equitable revenue sharing with states and local communities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/parliament-passes-mines-and-minerals-amendment-bill\/article69951567.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Rajya Sabha has passed the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, 2025, empowering leaseholders to mine critical minerals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":60159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1322,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-60150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-critical-minerals","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}