Strategic assets: How to turbocharge India’s global hunt for critical minerals

Recent reports suggest that NLC India Ltd (earlier called Neyveli Lignite Corp), a public sector mining and power generation company, is in talks to buy a stake in a Russian-owned lithium mine in Mali, Africa.

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While this forward-looking approach is welcome, such endeavours call for a larger procurement framework managed by a single entity, one that can draw from the vast talent pool of our public sector across disciplines, enjoin the private sector to participate in India’s global hunt for mineral reserves and leverage the state’s strengths in other spheres. After all, such deals are clinched by sovereign ownership more than entrepreneurial flair. 

Moreover,  we need the capacity to handle commercial engagements across the globe and maximize the value of all we extract. Amid a global scramble for minerals, these cannot be sourced the same way we get our bulk commodities like oil. Currently, the government does have a dedicated agency for procuring minerals overseas, Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL), but it is owned by other state-run firms in the mining sector and its capabilities are constrained by that. 

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While NLC began commercial operations for electricity supply in the early 1960s, its profitability over the next few decades was held back partly by its pursuit of state objectives. These included the supply of not just power, but also fertilizers and briquettes at controlled prices. However, over the last two decades, it has kept up a remunerative record as a 72.2% government-owned enterprise. Thanks to the Centre’s policies, it also enjoys reduced risk exposure to fragile state-level power utilities. Its earnings have thus armed it with funds for acquisitions.

This money could largely go into central coffers as dividends so that a larger body can be given a war chest for foreign asset purchases. Such an approach would address concerns of mineral security in a world fraught with geopolitics over scarce but vital resources.

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Lithium, for example, is a key element of climate action and we must not leave any stone unturned to secure its supplies. The key to our hunt’s success, though, lies in how we navigate the global flux of an era that is watching an old order crack up, with deep uncertainty over tomorrow’s trade matrix. Even as the US tries to bend trade partners to its will, China has made no bones about weaponizing  its hold over minerals. As their rivalry exposes our industrial vulnerability, our own prospects could pivot on outcomes of statecraft combined with knowhow and efficiency.

At the turn of the century, in pursuit of oil security, we notched up an oil asset in Sudan that proved to be one of our most profitable overseas ventures. However, India was outrun in that race for African hydrocarbon assets by China, which used a mix of aid and infrastructure projects to lure local regimes. Today, with minerals, securing supplies is just the first step. Refining and processing the stuff is another challenge. Right now, China dominates the whole chain. But others could master it too.