By ANI | New Delhi | 1 July 2026
Recycling and the commercial-scale extraction of critical minerals from secondary raw materials will reduce India’s import dependence over time, even though complete self-sufficiency may take time, Anupam Lahiri, PD (Minerals) and Additional Director General, NITI Aayog, told ANI on Wednesday.
“We cannot say exactly when self-sufficiency will be achieved. But it can reduce much of the dependency because there is a big source of secondary raw materials. And their extraction at a commercial scale is also coming up. So there will be less dependency,”
Lahiri told ANI on the sidelines of the 15th India Minerals and Metals Forum. Lahiri said India’s critical minerals strategy is centred on three key areas – increasing domestic exploration, acquiring mineral assets abroad and expanding recycling. While recycling has already gathered pace, he said efforts on exploration and overseas acquisitions are also progressing, though these will take time because of the long gestation period involved.
Image Credit: ANI
“With the concerted efforts of both public sector as well as private sector, I hope that it will reach its level but it will take some time because of its long gestation period,” he said
He said the recycling ecosystem has witnessed strong momentum over the past year, with many companies entering the sector. The Ministry of Mines has also floated a CAPEX incentive scheme to support setting up recycling plants for extracting critical minerals.
On the challenges facing the recycling industry, Lahiri said there are no major hurdles at present as many companies have already entered the sector. However, he said some regulatory support is still required and the Ministry of Mines is working on it.
“Recycling, I don’t think at this point of time there are major challenges because many of the players have already entered. Only some regulatory support is required, that is also the Ministry of Mines is taking up,” he said.
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Speaking on overseas resource acquisition, Lahiri said India is pursuing critical mineral assets through government-to-government engagement in countries such as Argentina, Chile and Australia. He said the challenges vary from country to country, including local disturbances and higher financial commitments.
“Actually, the challenges are varied, depends on country to country. In some countries, there are local disturbances. Somewhere, the financial commitments are more. These types of challenges are there,” he said.
On lithium, Lahiri said India continues to rely on imports, but lithium recovered from black mass and battery waste is helping reduce dependence. While recycling cannot eliminate import dependence completely, it can reduce it substantially.
“We are relying on imports but in India also from black mass as well as from battery waste, we are producing lithium. In that way, it cannot weed out complete dependence but to a big extent, it can clear up,” he said.
Lahiri expressed confidence in the future of the critical minerals sector, saying the recycling industry has received a major boost over the past year. He also said the National Critical Mineral Mission, set up last year, is progressing well and more success stories are expected in the future.
“National critical minerals mission was set up last year and it is working perfectly fine. More success stories are going to come in future,” he said.
Highlighting the role of technology, Lahiri said innovation will be key to reducing extraction costs and improving India’s critical minerals ecosystem.
“Whatever you do to extract the minerals at a lower cost, that itself will be an innovation,” he said, adding that the Indian scientific community is working in this direction and he hopes it will become “a game changer” one day.
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