India's critical minerals opportunity: Investment, exploration and policy reform

Five questions with Subhrakant Panda, Managing Director, Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA)

Ahead of FT Metals & Mining: India, we spoke to Subhrakant Panda, Managing Director of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA), about the opportunities and challenges shaping India's mining sector, from accelerating exploration and attracting investment to strengthening domestic processing capabilities and advancing meaningful policy reform.

His perspectives offer a preview of the critical issues that will be explored at the event on 17 November, where discussions will examine the policy, investment and industry developments needed to unlock India's mineral potential and drive long-term growth.

1. What will it take for India to unlock its critical minerals potential? Where do you see India’s biggest opportunities, and what are the main barriers to turning its mineral potential into commercially viable production?

The opportunity is significant and India has made a good start through the National Critical Mineral Mission, which targets 1,200 exploration projects by 2030–31. However, exploration is only the first step and the more important task at hand is seeing a project through till the end; that is, accessing critical minerals at a competitive cost, thereby reducing import dependency. Doing so will also create opportunities across the value chain encompassing mining, beneficiation, refining, recycling and downstream manufacturing.

Given the strategic importance of critical minerals and the breadth of their usage, India needs to move with a sense of urgency while ensuring that projects are technically and commercially viable. The biggest challenges, therefore, are the time and risk involved in exploration, the quality of geological data and the technology required for extraction and processing. The opportunity is not simply to mine the mineral but to build the broader ecosystem and remain competitive even as market conditions evolve.

2. How can India attract more investment into mining and critical minerals? What would give Indian and international investors the confidence to commit long-term capital to new mining and processing projects?

Mining is a long-cycle business, and investors are accustomed to taking geological risk. The greater challenge is having sufficient visibility on the regulatory and operating environment over the life of a project. For long-term capital to flow into the sector, policy stability and predictable execution matter significantly.

The 2026 MMDR amendments are relevant in this context because greater predictability in the fiscal framework makes it easier to assess the commercial viability of a mining project. The next step is to ensure that this predictability translates into projects moving efficiently from auction to production.

Of all the mines operationalised under the competitive auction framework since 2015, more than 40% were in the last three financial years. However, on average, it still takes two years for a mine to start operations. Therefore, embedded clearances prior to auction and other such measures are necessary to enhance output.

Finally, India need not pursue self-sufficiency in every mineral. Some resources may be more competitive domestically, while overseas assets and long-term offtake arrangements may make more sense for others.

3. What needs to change to accelerate mineral exploration in India? Where are the biggest gaps today, and how important are private-sector participation, technology and better geological data to unlocking new discoveries?

The biggest change required is to make exploration more commercial and technology-led. India has geological potential, but there is a significant difference between identifying a mineral occurrence and proving that there is a mineable resource with an acceptable return on capital. Good baseline data can reduce the amount of capital companies have to put at risk before they know whether something is worth developing.

Technology can make a significant difference as well. Advanced geophysics, remote sensing, better drilling techniques, artificial intelligence and data analytics can improve both the speed and the probability of discovery. Government data shows exploration activity has increased nearly 200 times since 2014, while 51 private agencies have been notified for exploration.

Private participation will be critical because exploration is inherently a risk-taking activity. Government has an important role in geological mapping and creating the information base, but private companies bring specialised expertise, technology and capital allocation discipline.

There is also no reason to think of mineral security only in terms of conventional mines. Recycling, mine waste, urban mining and offshore resources can all contribute over time.

4. How can India capture more value from its critical minerals at home? What will it take to build globally competitive refining and processing capabilities and develop stronger domestic value chains?

Mining a mineral is only the starting point. A significant part of the value can be created through beneficiation, refining and downstream manufacturing. If a mineral is mined in India but processed elsewhere, a substantial part of the economic value and industrial capability remains outside the country.

The government’s focus on mineral processing parks, Centres of Excellence and recycling of critical minerals is helping build a wider ecosystem. The recycling scheme has already seen 58 eligible companies with around 850 KTPA of pledged capacity, showing that secondary resources can complement primary mining and overseas sourcing.

IMFA is a good example of the value of an integrated approach, with a fully integrated business model – mining, captive power generation and smelting – enhancing competitiveness and resilience. The same principle applies to critical minerals, wherein combining domestic resources with processing, recycling, technology and downstream manufacturing will capture more value while also creating more resilient supply chains that are better equipped to respond to changing global conditions.

5. Are India’s recent mining reforms delivering what industry needs? Which changes have made the biggest difference so far, and where does implementation or policy need to improve to get projects moving faster?

The 2026 MMDR amendments are relevant because mining economics are highly sensitive to predictability. If the fiscal framework is clear for the life of a project, it becomes easier to make long-term capital allocation decisions. Policy interventions aimed at associated minerals and captive mine output will also help project economics.

A mining block being auctioned is not the same as a mine being operational. There is exploration, feasibility study, land acquisition and environmental approvals, infrastructure development and finally commissioning. The longer the cycle, the more the uncertainty and the higher the cost of risk-adjusted capital, ultimately affecting the economics of the project itself. Therefore, different parts of the approval system need to be integrated into a relatively seamless process.

The next phase should, therefore, be measured less by the number of blocks auctioned and more by how quickly those blocks become productive assets; and the objective should be to build a mineral ecosystem that can remain competitive through different commodity cycles.

This is what will ultimately determine whether India's critical minerals strategy translates into durable industrial capability, making it more self-reliant.

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