Reducing dependence on precious and critical metals is as important as sourcing them. Examine with reference to recent advances in catalyst research in India.

India imports all of the lithium, cobalt and nickel that go into lithium-ion batteries [1]. Platinum is the standard catalyst in hydrogen fuel cells, and it is rare and costly [2]. India needs to secure supplies of these metals, but its clean-energy transition will last only if new technologies stop needing them.

Sourcing: necessary but not enough

• The National Critical Mineral Mission has an outlay of ₹16,300 crore for 2024-25 to 2030-31. It covers the whole value chain, from exploration to recovery from end-of-life products [3].
• The MMDR Act, 1957 now sets royalty rates for Platinum Group Metals, so PGM blocks can be auctioned [4].
• Limits: new mines take years to start producing, and imports stay exposed to global supply shocks. Sourcing manages dependence but does not end it.

Catalyst research: cutting the need for these metals

• TTT-DHTD was developed by SNBNCBS Kolkata and INST Mohali (both DST institutes) with SRM University, Amaravati. It is a metal-free porous framework made only of carbon, sulphur, nitrogen and hydrogen. In a zinc–air battery it reached about 96% of platinum's performance in the oxygen reduction reaction and ran for 120 hours without loss [2].
• INST Mohali's earlier Fe,Co–N–C catalyst used cheaper metals in place of platinum. It is bifunctional: it drives both the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions, which a rechargeable zinc–air battery needs [5].
• An indigenous platinum-based fuel-cell catalyst performed as well as commercial catalysts and lasted longer [6].
• Zinc–air batteries use abundant zinc and oxygen from the air, so they avoid the lithium–cobalt–nickel import chain [1][2].

Gaps that remain

• These are lab-scale results. 120 hours of running is far short of the years a product must last [2].
• TTT-DHTD has been reported only for oxygen reduction (the discharge reaction). Rechargeability and cycle life are still open problems [2].
• It was tested in a zinc–air cell, not a fuel cell, so the platinum saving in fuel cells is not yet proven [2].

Way forward

• Test metal-free cathodes in the National Green Hydrogen Mission's hydrogen bus and truck pilots [7].
• Link the mission's work on processing and end-of-life recovery to support for pilot production of replacement technologies [3].

India's search for minerals and its laboratory work on replacing them are two parts of one strategy. Mining and imports keep India supplied today, while catalysts like TTT-DHTD can reduce how much India needs in future. Taking these catalysts from the journal paper to the factory would make India's energy security self-reliant (Atmanirbhar) and would support SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy).