NEW DELHI: India on Thursday made its first offering of offshore blocks for mineral exploration to join a select group of countries pursuing deepwater mining resources that have application in infrastructure as well as high-tech sector and energy transition.
Coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy described the auction as a harbinger of a national critical mission, which will strengthen the country’s mineral wealth. The demand for critical minerals is going to rise in India and “we are expecting lithium demand to rise by eight times…we are very shortly going to start Critical Minerals Mission,” he said.
Altogether, 13 offshore blocks were offered in the first tranche — three lime mud, three construction sand and seven polymetallic nodules and crusts.
China, Japan, Norway, Brazil, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Namibia are among the major countries pursuing offshore mining. Offshore areas include territorial waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone, and other maritime zones of the country.
Mines secretary V L Kantha Rao said the government is looking for partners in exploiting these minerals and will hold roadshows in India and anbroad to promote the first offshore mineral block auction.
The auction is part of the government’s bid to step up efforts to develop a diverse source for minerals with a view to creating a reliable supply chain and reducing import dependence as demand rises amid shift to high-tech.
In August last year, the Parliament amended the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, mandating auction as the mode of allocation of mineral blocks in offshore areas.
This amendment allows the government to streamline the grant of production leases and composite licences for the exploration and extraction of these resources.
