Mumbai, 09/04/2025: The government is encouraging stronger teamwork between public and private players to speed up the search for important minerals in the country.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Mines held a national workshop and roadshow to spread awareness about the new Exploration Licence (EL) system and the first round of licence auctions.
Speaking at the event, Mines Secretary V L Kantha Rao said the new policy allows private companies to actively search for valuable minerals like lithium, rare earth elements, gold, diamonds, and platinum group metals. Earlier, such work was mostly done by the government.
Mines Additional Secretary Sanjay Lohiya added that the government wants to create a modern, competitive, and investment-friendly system for mineral exploration. He said that both public and private sectors must work together and take part in the auction process.
Last month, the government began auctioning 13 blocks for exploration. These areas have minerals like rare earth elements, zinc, diamonds, and copper. This was made possible through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023, which allows private companies to explore for 29 important and hard-to-find minerals, including lithium, cobalt, and silver.
