Current Affairs Question in UPSC Prelims 2025 on India critical minerals policy
Q. Consider the following statements:
I. India has joined the Minerals Security Partnership as a member.
II. India is a resource-rich country in all the 30 critical minerals that it has identified.
III. The Parliament in 2023 amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, empowering the Central Government to exclusively auction mining lease and composite licenses for certain critical minerals.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: C. I and III only
Explanation: Statement I is correct: India has joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), a US-led initiative to strengthen critical mineral supply chains.
Statement II is incorrect: While India has identified 30 critical minerals, it is not resource-rich in all of them and depends on imports for many, such as lithium and cobalt.
Statement III is correct: In 2023, the MMDR Act (1957) was amended to allow the Central Government to conduct exclusive auctions for mining and composite licenses related to strategic and critical minerals.
