What Is It (Definition)
Critical minerals are minerals essential for economic development or national security whose supply chains face a high risk of disruption. Their criticality depends on both importance and supply vulnerability.
Real-Life Example
Lithium-ion batteries use minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite. A disruption in their supply can delay battery production and raise costs for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems.
Features
- Economic Importance: They support clean energy, electronics, telecommunications, transport, advanced manufacturing, and defence.
- Supply Risk: Production or processing may be concentrated in a small number of countries.
- Dynamic Status: A mineral can become critical when technology, demand, trade patterns, or geopolitical conditions change.
- Value-Chain Dependence: Security requires more than mining because processing, refining, recycling, and component manufacturing can also create bottlenecks.
- Indian List: India identified 30 critical minerals after assessing their economic importance and supply risks.
Significance / Impact
- Clean-Energy Systems: Lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements enable batteries, wind turbines, solar technologies, and electric vehicles.
- National Security: Defence systems and high-technology electronics depend on reliable access to specialised mineral inputs.
- Supply Resilience: Domestic exploration, diversified imports, overseas assets, recycling, and strategic reserves reduce the risk of disruption.
- Industrial Competitiveness: Local processing and refining can reduce import dependence and retain more value within Indian manufacturing.