Many key industrial inputs are by-products of the hydrocarbon economy. Discuss what this means for India's energy transition and critical-mineral strategy.

About 92% of the world's sulphur is recovered during oil refining and gas processing, and only about 8% is mined [1]. The supply of such inputs therefore follows hydrocarbon output, not their own demand. Sulphur's price rose from $280 to $1,050/tonne between July 2025 and July 2026 [1]. For India, this creates a paradox for both its energy transition and its mineral security.

Crude oil / sour gas ─► refining ─► Sulphur ─► Sulphuric acid ─┬─► Phosphoric acid ─► DAP/NPK (food)
                                                               └─► Metals processing ─► Batteries (energy)

Fig: One hydrocarbon by-product feeds both the food and the clean-energy value chains

Implications for the energy transition

• Green paradox: decarbonisation means less oil is refined, so less by-product sulphur is produced. This happens just as metals processing for batteries raises demand [1].
• Inelastic supply: higher prices cannot raise output, because refiners process oil for fuel, not for sulphur [1].
• Continuing Gulf exposure: about 90% of India's sulphur imports come from West Asia [1]. Strait of Hormuz disruptions have already tightened global fertiliser supplies [5].
• Food–energy nexus: sulphur and ammonia are core fertiliser raw materials [2]. A shock caused by the energy transition can therefore become a shock to farm inputs.

Implications for critical-mineral strategy

• Scope gap: the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM, 2025) covers exploration, processing parks, recycling and recovery from tailings [4]. Processing inputs such as sulphur need the same strategic attention.
• Producer yet importer: India produces 3.7 MMT of sulphur and is among the top 10 producers. It still imported 2.25 MMT in 2025 [1], so domestic recovery capacity matters.
• Diversification: India has long-term agreements with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Morocco [3], and an industry consortium buys sulphur and ammonia collectively [2]. These help, but supply from Saudi Arabia still passes through the Gulf.
• Overseas assets: NCMM's push to acquire mineral assets abroad [4] can be extended to input supply chains outside Hormuz.

Way forward

• Recover as much sulphur as possible at Indian refineries and gas plants, and build buffer stocks.
• Give priority to suppliers outside the Gulf and to equity stakes in plants abroad.
• Fund recycling and processing that uses fewer inputs, and scale up green ammonia.

The hydrocarbon economy will keep shaping India's input supplies even as the country moves beyond it. India can make its transition resilient by treating by-products like sulphur as strategic inputs, which means diversifying, recovering and recycling them. This advances SDG 7 (clean energy) and SDG 2 (zero hunger) together, in line with the NCMM's aim of a resilient value chain [4].