New Delhi [India], November 6 : India's collaboration on lithium with Chile holds a very promising future, Chile's Ambassador to India, Juan Angulo, said, emphasising Santiago's intention to play a deeper role in the lithium-based products ecosystem in India.
"I think it is a very promising future (India's collaboration on lithium with Chile). We have to find intelligent ways of collaboration," the envoy told ANI, asked to speak about the India-Chile lithium collaboration.
He said Chile wants to be part of the value chain of lithium product production and lithium-based products, and "we have to find common grounds on that."
Chile holds one of the largest lithium reserves in the world.
"... it's important not to rely only in raw materials and export the material as it is raw. We believe that part of the development, industrialisation and increase in technology and innovation needs to add value to the product. So we will find a way, common ground with India in doing so," the envoy added.
The Government of India launched the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) in 2025 to establish a robust framework for achieving self-reliance in the critical minerals sector.
Under this mission, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been tasked with conducting 1,200 exploration projects from 2024-25 to 2030-31, with a proposed expenditure of Rs . 16,300 crore and an expected investment of Rs. 18,000 crore by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and other stakeholders.
The Mission targets 1,000 patents by 2030, with the creation of 7 Centres of Excellence to drive breakthroughs in exploration and extraction.
A Rs 1,500 crore incentive scheme has been approved to boost recycling capacity for critical minerals.
Critical minerals are those minerals that are essential for economic development and national security. They are indispensable for clean energy technologies, high-tech electronics, transport, telecommunications and defence. They are vital to power the global transition to a low-carbon emissions economy. These are also minerals fraught with supply chain vulnerabilities, hence the necessity for governments to secure their supply chains for such minerals.
In 2023, the Ministry of Mines released a list of 30 critical minerals for India. These minerals are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE, Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium.
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