KOLKATA | Jul 19, 2016: Twelve critical minerals could play an important role in the success of 'Make in India' programme and the sustainable growth of the Indian economy, a study released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a leading policy research body on Tuesday has said. The critical minerals including beryllium, germanium, rare earths (heavy and light), rhenium, tantalum, etc. find specialised use in a range of industries and modern applications, such as aerospace, automobiles, cameras, defence, entertainment systems, laptops, medical imaging, nuclear energy, and smartphones.

These critical minerals would also play a role in nurturing the domestic manufacturing capacity to support the government's low-carbon plans, such as the 100GW (giga watt) solar target, faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles, and the national domestic efficient lighting programme.

The CEEW study comes on the heels of the National Mineral Exploration Policy, 2016 (NMEP) unveiled earlier this month, which focuses on prioritisation of regional and detailed exploration critical minerals of importance to industry and national security.

The study, supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), provides a first-of-its-kind framework for India to assess the impact of critical minerals on the manufacturing sector. The country presently has no declared domestic reserves for majority of the identified critical minerals and may be heavily import dependent on China for a few of them over the coming years, the study pointed out. "The study will open new vistas for R&D and collaborations for securing assured supplies of critical minerals." Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, said. China is currently a leading global supplier for 6 out of the 12 mineral resources identified as critical for India by 2030. Over the coming years, India will need to strategically develop joint partnerships with existing global players (private firms and governments) to secure assured supply of critical minerals.

Balvinder Kumar, secretary, ministry of mines, who delivered the keynote address at the meet said: "We have introduced several key reforms including allocating mines through fair and transparent auctions, allocating mines for 50 years instead of 30 years, setting up District Mineral Foundations across the country, and setting up the National Mineral Exploration Trust. This study from CEEW will be extremely useful for framing policies that deal with national security and high-tech manufacturing."

"India will need to first focus on domestic exploration of critical minerals to meet its economic and developmental goals. We would also need to secure our critical mineral resources through strategic acquisition." Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, said.

NMEP 2016 also includes a proposal to establish the autonomous NCMT to address mineral exploration challenges in the country through collaborative research and capacity building programmes.

(Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/)