The Ministry of Coals and Mines disclosed that a total of twenty blocks of rare minerals will be auctioned across the country.
"This is a landmark initiative that will boost our economy, enhance national security and support our transition to a clean energy future," said the ministry.
"Critical minerals are essential for our country's economic development and national security. The lack of availability of these minerals or the concentration of their extraction or processing in a few countries may lead to supply chain vulnerabilities. The future global economy will be underpinned by technologies that depend on minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium and rare earth elements (REE)," the ministry added.
These materials are in high demand as they are crucial to sectors like renewable energy, defence, agriculture, pharmaceutical, high-tech electronics, telecommunications, transport, the creation of gigafactories, etc.
The auction will be held online through a two-stage process, the bidder will be selected based on the highest percentage of the value of the mineral despatched quoted by them.