Important minerals, unimportant people: Motto of India's Critical Mineral Mission?

By SP Udayakumar*

In our world, which has been hijacked by the capitalist triad of "Liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization," humans, other living beings, and nature are no longer significant. What matters today are minerals that can be extracted and sold at a high price, making billionaires like Adani, Ambani, and Anil Agarwal even wealthier.

One of the primary responsibilities of the government now is to discover, extract, and market critical minerals scattered across the country. Based on this, India's Ministry of Mines announced the "National Critical Mineral Mission" as part of the 2024-25 Union Budget. Its goals are to enable the country’s economic growth and transition to a net-zero economy. This mission is designed to make India self-reliant in essential raw materials required for these initiatives.

The objectives of the Critical Mineral Mission are threefold: to increase domestic production of critical minerals, to recycle critical minerals, and to secure critical mineral resources from foreign countries.

The long list of critical minerals includes the following: lithium, graphite, copper, cobalt, nickel, gallium, molybdenum, platinum, phosphorus, potash, silicon, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, and others.

Discovering, extracting, processing, and bringing these minerals to use are all key objectives of the Critical Mineral Mission. For this, mining blocks will be auctioned off in deep-sea regions, and joint ventures will be formed to obtain minerals from foreign countries.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957 was amended in 2023. As per the amendment, private companies are now allowed to participate in the discovery of six atomic minerals: lithium, beryllium, niobium, titanium, tantalum, and zirconium. Private companies will also be involved in extracting critical minerals, employing technologies, and conducting exploration activities.

Private companies like VV Mineral, Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited (KMML), and Indian Rare Earths Limited (IRE), along with corporations in districts like Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, and Kollam and Alappuzha in Kerala, have been reaping enormous profits by extracting minerals such as garnet, rutile, zircon, leucoxene, sillimanite, ilmenite, and monazite.

Various studies and investigations have been conducted on these exploitations, culminating in a ruling by the Chennai High Court on March 27, 2018. The court directed the Union Government to regulate sand mining and restrict the extraction of monazite. Subsequently, in August 2018, sand export was banned, and in February 2019, the Modi government completely prohibited private companies from extracting sand. However, in October 2021, the Modi government did a sudden U-turn, scrapping all the previous measures taken over the last five years and allowing private companies to extract sand. Many suspect these rule changes are being made to hand over India’s coastal and mineral resources to the Adani Group. As a result, many local sand mining companies have already been shut down.

In this context, on January 9, 2023, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited and Indian Rare Earths Limited (IRE) in the presence of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, to commercially extract and market coastal mineral resources. The MoU stated that there are about 52 million tonnes of beach sand in the southern region of Tamil Nadu.

With this, two mineral processing plants will be set up at Kuthiraimozhi and Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district, each with an investment of ₹1,500 crore. Each plant is expected to generate ₹1,075 crore annually, contributing to significant economic development in the region and providing direct and indirect employment to around 4,000 people. This brings to mind the Tata Group’s attempt in 2007 to set up a titanium dioxide plant on 12,000 acres of land in the Sathankulam region to loot beach sand, a plan they had to abandon due to strong public opposition.

Recently, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas called for bids under the Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP) to extract oil and gas from the sea. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) issued the 9th round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) auctions across 28 regions, covering an area of 1,36,596 square kilometers.

In Tamil Nadu, there are three offshore blocks near Kanyakumari and one near Chennai:

1. CY - UDWHP-2022/1 - 9514.63 sq. km (Kumari)

2. CY - UDWHP-2022/2 - 9844.72 sq. km (Kumari)

3. CY - UDWHP-2022/3 - 7795.45 sq. km (Kumari)

4. CY - UDWHP-2023/1 - 5330.49 sq. km (Chennai)

A total of 32,485.29 square kilometers have been auctioned for oil and gas extraction. On January 3, 2024, an international tender was issued to establish exploration and production wells in these areas, with the deadline extended to September 21.

ONGC and Vedanta are attempting to capture these four deep-sea blocks. Among these blocks, there is a "wadge bank" in the deep sea between the Kumari blocks. The Wadge Bank, one of the few such underwater banks globally, is situated in the southwestern part of Kanyakumari district, covering about 10,000 square kilometers. This underwater bank is considered one of India's richest fishery resources.

Since there are no strong currents, waves, or floods in this region, it produces food essential for marine life. Over 200 species of fish and more than 60 other marine species live in this area, making it a vital breeding ground for fish and other marine creatures.

This area is a livelihood source for millions of fishermen from the southern states and serves as a food basket for millions of people. Extracting oil and gas here would completely destroy the marine ecosystem, plunging fishing families into poverty and hunger. Likewise, oil extraction activities and the pollution they cause would entirely ruin the marine environment. This would jeopardize the food and nutritional security of millions of Indians.

Priority is being given to mineral extraction and western development theories, and corporate profits are taking precedence over the Indian people. As governments and big corporates help each other through their illicit ties, people who question this exploitation are labeled as enemies of India's growth, traitors, foreign agents, Naxalites, or Maoists.

We need to extract all the resources required for our survival from this land. However, should we collect the golden eggs from the goose one by one and share them with everyone, or should we succumb to corporate greed and kill the goose, losing everything?

Responsible actions are needed in development policies and projects. Sustainability is essential in mineral extraction. The environmental and social impacts of mineral extraction, processing, and use must be taken into account. Above all, if people affected by mineral extraction projects oppose them, these projects should be entirely abandoned.

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*People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), Nagercoil

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