India launches National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) to boost self-reliance in the green economy.

Economy Business | Dated: 04 Nov 2025

The Government of India launched the **National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) 2025** to establish a robust framework for self-reliance in the supply chain of critical minerals, vital for clean energy, electronics, and defense technologies. The mission targets extensive domestic exploration (1,200 projects by GSI), aims to secure global assets through PSUs, and includes an incentive scheme to boost recycling capacity. NCMM is crucial for India to meet its climate goals (Net-Zero by 2070) by reducing reliance on foreign supply, particularly China.

🎯 Key Highlights:

  • The NCMM mission was launched in 2025 to achieve self-reliance in critical minerals.
  • The mission aims to secure minerals vital for EV batteries, solar cells, and defense.
  • GSI has been tasked with conducting 1,200 domestic exploration projects by 2030-31.

💡 Other Important Facts:

  • The mission aims to minimize import dependency, particularly from China.
  • It includes an incentive scheme to boost recycling capacity from secondary sources.
  • Critical minerals are essential for achieving the 50% non-fossil energy capacity goal by 2030.

📚 Test Your Knowledge:

Which mineral is vital for Lithium-ion batteries and a key focus of the NCMM?

Correct Answer: Lithium

🚀 Quick Recap:

About Critical Minerals

  • (i) Minerals – Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Rare Earths (ii) Strategy – End-to-end value creation (Recycling to Processing)
  • (iii) Climate Goal – Net-Zero by 2070 (iv) Legislative Action – 24 minerals added to MMDR Act Schedule I (2023)