New Delhi, Nov. 10 -- Access to critical minerals has emerged as a key factor in India's pursuit of its long-term net zero emissions goal, prompting the country to sign agreements with resource-rich nations including Australia, Argentina and Chile for mining, exploration and investment, whilst launching a Rs.34,300 crore (approximately $4 billion) National Critical Mineral Mission to secure supplies amid China's tightening control over global reserves and processing. Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements are indispensable for solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other clean energy technologies essential to India's climate goals. However, China's grip on both mining and refining-it processes almost 90% of the world's rare earth elements despite mining only half-has created a strategic vulnerability for countries pursuing energy transitions. With global demand for these minerals expected to more than double by 2030, India faces the twin challenge of securing access to geographically concentrated resources whilst navigating intense US-China competition over supply chains. The strategy was outlined by the ministry of mines in response to HT's queries. The ministry stated it is actively engaged in multiple strategic partnerships to strengthen the critical minerals value chain, including the US-led Mineral Security Partnership-launched in 2022 with 14 countries and the European Commission-the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the India-UK Technology and Security Initiative, the Quad and the Strategic Mineral Recovery Initiative, a US-India partnership announced in February following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US. "The core message is that India must urgently adopt a strategic perspective on its mineral economy. Minerals are essential for our industrial requirements including defence and strategic industries. The global transition towards decarbonisation of energy is creating a mineral-dependent world, and this is occurring amidst intense geopolitical competition, particularly between the US and China," states a discussion paper by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) titled "India's Mineral Requirements in a World of Economic and Geopolitical Transition." India's response centres on the National Critical Mineral Mission, launched in January, which focuses on increasing domestic production, acquiring assets abroad, recycling critical minerals and developing trade and markets, among other priorities. "Apart from acquiring these mines abroad through Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL), we are also trying to ramp up domestic mining as soon as possible. The biggest issue with rare earths is not that they are rare, but because they exist in trace quantities and extracting them can be difficult," said an official on condition of anonymity. "The other issue is that refining is not only expensive but also has huge pollution implications," the official added. The Geological Survey of India has ramped up exploration significantly, carrying out 49 REE projects in 2022-23, 59 in 2023-24, 78 in 2024-25 and 95 projects in 2025-26. Since 2015, GSI has augmented 482.6 million tonnes of rare earth element ore resources at various cut-off grades across 34 exploration projects. Critical minerals present an environmental and social conundrum, according to the IEA....