Self-reliance in critical minerals key: NITI panel

Hyderabad: The panel on National Mineral Mission, set up by the NITI Aayog, has stated that both govt and private companies are expected to work together in the critical minerals sector to make the country self-sufficient. The committee meeting, chaired by DK Singh, was held at Singareni Bhavan on Thursday and attended by its members.The discussions focused in depth on the necessity, availability, and exploration of critical minerals in India, opportunities in the sector, and the initiatives and responsibilities to be undertaken by various govt mining organisations. The meeting was attended by the committee member secretary, NITI Aayog deputy adviser for Minerals R Saravanabhavan, Singareni CMD Buddha Prakash Jyoti, and other members.
The committee, established by the central NITI Aayog, includes the chairman of Singareni as a member. The first meeting was hosted by Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL). He stated that SCCL would make efforts to extract critical minerals from the overburden soil of opencast mines and from the fly ash and bottom ash of the Singareni Thermal Power Plant, fulfilling its responsibility to meet national critical mineral requirements.The members emphasised the importance of critical minerals for solar power, battery-operated vehicles, the expansion of electronics, and the defence sector. Despite the country having critical mineral resources, mining is not taking place, resulting in imports from abroad, the committee noted. It was suggested that govt and private mining companies should collaborate to fully utilise India's critical mineral resources, as demand for these minerals is expected to rise in the future.Meanwhile, Brazil's leading company, Companhia Brasileira de Lítio (CBL), invited SCCL to join as a partner in its lithium mining operations in Brazil. A delegation from the company had met SCCL CMD to hold discussions. CBL Board director Daniel Leme and CEO Vinicius Alvarenga presented details about their company and ongoing lithium mining projects in Brazil to the Singareni CMD.