India looks to stitch critical minerals into bilateral trade pact with US: Report

The latest development is expected to unlock US tax benefits for electric vehicles and batteries for using these minerals, the newspaper said.

India is looking to upgrade its existing deal for critical minerals with the US into a full-fledged partnership agreement and has asked its American counterparts to include it in the ongoing broader trade deal, a report by Mint said on March 24.

New Delhi and Washington had signed a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals in October last year to boost supply-chain resilience.

The latest development is expected to unlock US tax benefits for electric vehicles and batteries for using these minerals, the newspaper said.

Mint, citing top government sources, said that discussions on the critical minerals deal has picked up pace amid the ongoing talks on the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US.

The Union Cabinet in January had approved the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) to encourage domestic PSUs and private sector companies to acquire critical mineral assets abroad and enhance trade with resource-rich countries.

The mission is expected to strengthen India's position in the global technology race and secure vital raw materials, especially amid a fierce competition over Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in the world.

The project, which has an expenditure of Rs 16,300 crore and expected investment of Rs 18,000 crore by PSUs (outlay of $3.92 billion over 7 years), seeks to create a framework to make India self-reliant in critical minerals, which are essential for the advancement of many sectors, including hightech electronics, telecommunications, transport and defence.

On March 13, Union coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy launched India's first-ever auction of Exploration Licences (ELs) for 13 exploration blocks for critical minerals in Dona Paula, Goa.

The licenses are for the exploration blocks for minerals like REE (rare earth elements), zinc, diamond, copper, PGE (platinum group minerals) and others.