Incentive scheme for recycling of critical minerals on anvil, says Official

The incentive scheme for recycling of critical minerals, such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements, is in the final stages, a mines ministry official said on Friday. The Union budget has allocated Rs 1,500 crore for recycling of critical minerals under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), Joint Secretary in Mines Ministry Dinesh Mahur said during an event here. He said, "the incentive scheme for recycling is in its final stages." Earlier, the government had approved a Rs 16,300-crore National Critical Mineral Mission, envisaging a total outlay of Rs 34,300 crore spread over seven years, with an aim to achieve self-reliance and accelerate India's journey towards green energy transition. Public sector enterprises are expected to contribute Rs 18,000 crore to the mission, which aims at promoting exploration of critical minerals within the country and at offshore locations. Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements are essential raw materials required to fuel the growth of rapidly-growing clean energy technologies and their expanding uses ranging from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles and battery manufacturing. Demand for these minerals is growing with clean energy transitions gathering momentum worldwide. The major objectives of this mission are to increase exploration, reduce import dependence, acquire mineral blocks overseas, develop technologies for processing of critical minerals and recycle the minerals.