India is set to launch a new scheme to promote domestic processing of lithium and nickel, strengthening its critical minerals sector and reducing reliance on imports, amid a broader push for self-sufficiency in key industries.
India is preparing to introduce a new incentive scheme aimed at expanding domestic processing of lithium and nickel, in a move designed to deepen its critical minerals supply chain and reduce reliance on imported refined materials. Mines Secretary Keshav Chandra announced the plan on September 22 at the 60th annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries in New Delhi, saying the government would set out the finer details after the necessary approvals are secured. The move comes as India steps up efforts to secure inputs needed for electric vehicle batteries, energy storage systems and other industries that depend on refined critical minerals.
The planned support sits alongside a broader government push to build processing capacity within the country. According to reports in the Indian press, the government has already cleared four critical mineral processing parks in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, with each site intended to serve a different part of the minerals value chain. Maharashtra is expected to focus on lithium, Odisha on nickel, while Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are to support rare-earth processing. Moneycontrol reported that the National Critical Mineral Mission has earmarked ₹500 crore for the parks, underscoring the state’s determination to move beyond raw extraction and into higher-value processing.
Chandra used his remarks to criticise India’s continued export of some minerals without enough beneficiation, or preliminary processing, while importing processed versions of similar materials. He said the practice was “a matter of shame”, according to the report from Skillings, and argued that India should capture more of the value from its mineral endowment at home. That approach reflects a wider industrial policy objective: possessing mineral reserves does not by itself guarantee access to the refined materials that manufacturers actually need.
Technology remains a further obstacle. Chandra said countries that have resource ties with India do not always share their processing know-how, while some technologies can be bought but at a high cost. That has pushed the government towards closer cooperation between industry and universities, as well as investment in research hubs and Centres of Excellence under the National Critical Mineral Mission. The ministry already runs a ₹1,500-crore incentive programme for critical-mineral recycling, and the new lithium-nickel plan would address a different stage of the supply chain by supporting the processing of newly mined material rather than recovered scrap.
The scheme’s funding, eligibility rules and subsidy structure have not yet been published, and officials are expected to release more detail once approvals are complete. Still, the policy direction is clear. India is trying to build a more resilient critical-minerals system by combining domestic mining, overseas sourcing, recycling and processing capacity, while also encouraging downstream manufacturing to keep more of the economic value within the country.
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