India will scrap import duties on 25 critical minerals, including lithium and copper, as it looks to boost renewable energy and ensure supply for the defense and telecommunications sectors, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
"Minerals such as lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements (REE) are critical for sectors like nuclear energy, renewable energy, space, defence, telecommunications and high-tech electronics," Sitharaman said in the 2024-2025 budget speech.
The minister is proposing to exempt 25 critical minerals from customs duties and to lower import levies on gold, silver, and platinum, India's Economic Times reports.
The scrapping of the import duties is expected to boost the processing and refining of these minerals and secure their availability for these strategic and important sectors, Sitharaman said.
India is looking to secure critical minerals and is keen on collaborating with countries with known reserves.
India is exploring options to potentially develop resources of lithium and copper in South America.
For example, state-held giant Coal India and a U.S. company are considering joint development of lithium assets in Argentina, under the U.S.-led pact for Minerals Security Partnership, Reuters reported last month, citing an Indian source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Earlier this year, India signed an agreement with the state-owned enterprise of Catamarca province in northwest Argentina for a lithium exploration and mining project in the Argentinian province.
To boost its energy transition efforts, India is also betting on acquiring lithium and copper assets overseas and sent earlier this year a delegation to search for such resources in Chile, a top producer of both critical minerals.
India also plans to apply for licenses for deep-sea mining of minerals key for the energy transition in the Pacific. The country is getting ready to apply in 2025 with the UN-backed International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration licenses in the Pacific, M. Ravichandran, the top scientist at India's Ministry of Earth Sciences, told Reuters earlier this week.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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