India has launched an auction for 56 blocks of critical minerals, marking a significant expansion in the country's efforts to secure domestic supply chains for rare earth elements, graphite, vanadium and titanium.
The Ministry of Mines also increased the number of exploration licence blocks to 11, broadening the scope for upstream development in strategic resources.
The move is designed to support India's growing clean energy, electric vehicle, electronics and defence industries, which face mounting pressure to diversify away from concentrated global supply sources.
By opening these blocks to commercial bidding, the government aims to accelerate domestic production capacity and reduce vulnerability to external export restrictions.
This development comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions over critical minerals, with China recently imposing export controls on US firms involved in rare earths mining and defence technology.
The Indian auction reflects a broader trend among major economies seeking to onshore or friend-shore strategic resource extraction to mitigate supply chain risks.