In a groundbreaking development, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy awarded India's first lithium block, Katghora, and a Rare Earth Element (REE) block in Chhattisgarh to Maiki South Mining Private Limited. This allocation, with a Final Price Offer (FPO) of 76.05%, occurred during the fourth tranche of the critical minerals auction.

India has been heavily dependent on imports to meet its critical mineral needs, such as lithium, niobium, and REEs, which are essential for industries like electric vehicles, pharmaceuticals, and defense manufacturing. The move to domestically source these minerals marks a significant shift towards resource self-sufficiency.

The discovery of India's first lithium deposits in Jammu and Kashmir, with estimated reserves of 5.9 million tonnes, was announced in February last year. Following this, in July 2023, India revised its mining regulations to allow private miners to explore and extract these vital resources.

At the event, Minister Reddy highlighted the positive impacts of the 2015 mining and mineral sector reforms and assured continued reforms every 15 days to further enhance the sector.

The fourth tranche e-auction of critical minerals includes 21 blocks, with 11 new blocks in states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Karnataka. Despite the initial round receiving 56 physical and 56 online bids for 18 of the 20 blocks offered in November 2023, the auction for 13 blocks was canceled due to limited interest, prompting the re-auction of seven of these blocks in the third round.

India's strategic move to auction critical mineral blocks is part of its broader initiative to facilitate a clean energy transition. The government recently canceled 14 out of 18 blocks in the second tranche due to insufficient bids and is set to auction its first tranche of 10 offshore critical mineral blocks within the next 100 days.