{"id":30500,"date":"2024-10-07T18:36:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T13:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=30500"},"modified":"2024-10-07T18:36:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T13:06:50","slug":"india-u-s-sign-mou-on-critical-minerals-supply-chains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-10-2024\/india-u-s-sign-mou-on-critical-minerals-supply-chains","title":{"rendered":"India-U.S. Sign MoU on Critical Minerals Supply Chains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS33\/Science and Technology, GS2\/ IR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand and diversify the critical minerals supply chain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are Critical Minerals?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These are minerals that are <strong>essential for economic development and national security.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The lack of availability of these minerals or the concentration of extraction or processing in a few geographical locations could potentially lead to \u201c<strong>supply chain vulnerabilities and even disruption of supplies\u201d.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Applications of Critical Minerals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Clean technologies initiatives<\/strong> such as zero-emission vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels etc.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Critical minerals such as Cadmium, Cobalt, Gallium, Indium, Selenium and Vanadium and have uses in <strong>batteries, semiconductors, solar panels<\/strong>, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Advanced manufacturing inputs and material<\/strong>s such as defense applications, permanent magnets, ceramics.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Minerals like Beryllium, Titanium, Tungsten, Tantalum, etc. have usage in new technologies, electronics and defense equipment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) <\/strong>are used in medical devices, cancer treatment drugs, and dental materials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>List of Critical Minerals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Different countries have their own unique lists <\/strong>of critical minerals based on their specific circumstances and priorities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A total of 30 minerals were found to be most critical for India,<\/strong> out of which two are critical as fertilizer minerals: 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of partnership<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s participation in the network will help in <strong>diversifying and securing its supply of critical minerals<\/strong> from nations like Argentina, Chile, Australia, and select African countries.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The partnership marks a critical step forward for India in its quest to <strong>reduce reliance on China <\/strong>for these minerals and build a robust, self-sustaining supply chain for its green energy initiatives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Other steps taken by India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has joined the <strong>Minerals Security Partnership<\/strong>, a US-led plurilateral effort of 14 countries and the European Union.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India has joined<\/strong> the US-led <strong>Minerals Security Finance Network<\/strong>, an initiative aimed at strengthening global cooperation in securing critical mineral supply chains.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL): <\/strong>It was formed in<strong> 2019 <\/strong>as a joint venture of state-run miners <strong>NALCO, HCL and MECL<\/strong> to source strategic minerals such as lithium and cobalt etc. from abroad.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Critical minerals have become <strong>essential for economic development<\/strong> and national security in the country.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Minerals such as Lithium, Cobalt etc.\u00a0 have gained significance in view of India\u2019s commitment towards energy transition and achieving <strong>net-zero emission by 2070.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Mineral Security Partnership (MSP)<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>It is a US-led collaboration of 14 countries<\/strong> that would focus on the supply chains of minerals such as Cobalt, Nickel, Lithium, and also the 17 \u2018rare earth\u2019 minerals.<br>&#8211; <strong>Members: <\/strong>Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Sweden, the UK, U.S., and the EU.\u00a0<br>&#8211; <strong>Mandate:<\/strong> To catalyze public and private investment in critical mineral supply chains globally. It directly addresses four major critical minerals challenges:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<br>1. Diversifying and stabilizing global supply chains;\u00a0<br>2. Investment in those supply chains;\u00a0<br>3. Promoting high environmental, social, and governance standards in the mining, processing, and recycling sectors; and\u00a0<br>4. Increasing recycling of critical minerals.\u00a0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/india-us-sign-mou-on-critical-minerals-supply-chains\/article68716658.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand and diversify the critical minerals supply chain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30501,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30500\/revisions\/30501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}