India is actively negotiating critical minerals partnerships with Brazil, Canada, France, and the Netherlands to reduce its heavy reliance on China for essential raw materials vital to technologies ranging from clean energy to electronics and defence systems. The discussions, led by India’s Ministry of Mines, focus on securing stable supplies of lithium, rare earth elements, and other strategic minerals, key components of batteries, electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies, and advanced manufacturing. Officials said the potential agreements would cover joint exploration, extraction, processing and recycling, helping India strengthen its access to these materials.
China currently dominates the global supply chain for many of these resources, particularly in processing and refining, which exposes India and other economies to geopolitical and supply chain risks. By expanding partnerships beyond China, New Delhi aims to diversify its supply sources and support its ongoing energy transition and industrial growth ambitions. One of the proposed deals with Canada is reportedly under active review, and talks are expected to intensify ahead of a planned visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in March, during which broader cooperation on minerals, energy and technology could be formalised.
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India has already signed critical minerals agreements with several countries and is exploring pacts with others to fortify its resource base. These efforts mirror a broader global push by major economies to secure supplies of rare earths and lithium and to reduce dependence on a single dominant supplier. Experts note that while such deals are strategic and forward-looking, mining and scaling up production take years, with exploration, infrastructure and processing capacity development often requiring substantial time and investment before yielding commercial output.
