"Critical minerals are the new oil." Examine India's institutional framework for securing critical minerals, with reference to the auction and Exploration Licence regimes.

In the 20th century, oil decided who had energy security. Today, minerals such as rare earths, gallium, graphite and lithium play that role for clean energy, defence and electronics. India has built a layered response to this: a law, a national mission and two auction tools.

Why the "new oil" comparison fits

• These minerals go into EVs, defence, aerospace, electronics and fertilisers (potash) [1].
• India depends fully on imports for lithium, cobalt and nickel, and largely for graphite and potash [5].

The institutional framework

• Law: the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 created the Exploration Licence (EL) regime [2]. Section 10BA opens exploration of 29 critical and deep-seated minerals (Seventh Schedule) to private firms [1].
• Mission: the National Critical Mineral Mission has an outlay of ₹34,300 crore over seven years [3].
• Block auctions: Composite Licences and Mining Leases are sold by two-stage ascending auction, and the highest revenue share wins. Across eight tranches, 64 of 100 blocks were sold. Tranche IX offers 20 blocks, including gallium, rare earths and potash [1].
• EL auctions: these use a reverse auction. The explorer earns a share of the future miner's revenue, so private firms are paid for taking discovery risk. So far 11 EL blocks have been auctioned, reaching Arunachal Pradesh, UP and Odisha for the first time [2].
• Transparency: bidding runs on the MSTC e-auction platform, and Letters of Intent are issued automatically through the Unified Mining Portal [1].

Gaps

• Too few bidders: in Tranche I, 11 of the 13 annulled blocks had fewer than 3 technically qualified bidders [4]. The Third Amendment Rules, 2026 lower the second-round minimum to 2 [1], but fewer bidders can mean lower prices.
• A sale is not a mine: forest clearance is needed even for exploration, and India has little refining capacity [5]. New deadlines of 6, 18 and 12 months (mining plan, environment clearance, lease) now carry a 1%-per-month penalty on the bidder's performance security [6].
• Late ecological checks: the Nayakkarpatti tungsten auction was cancelled because the block included a Biodiversity Heritage Site [7].

Way forward

• Check each block against protected-area maps before it is put up for tender.
• Set up an inter-ministerial group to track blocks after auction, and invest in refining and recycling [5].
• Publish each block's winning premium alongside its number of bidders, so the 2-bidder rule can be reviewed.

India's framework now links law, mission and markets, but most of the work so far has gone into selling blocks. Its success should be judged by the minerals mined and refined at home. That needs early ecological screening, joined-up clearances and investment in processing. Done this way, mineral security can support Aatmanirbhar Bharat and India's clean-energy goals under SDG 7.