India’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a 163 billion-rupee (US$1.9 billion) program to secure supplies of a range of minerals used mainly in battery, electronics, defense and agriculture sectors.
The National Critical Mineral Mission will focus on local mining and processing of 24 vital minerals, as well as acquisitions of mining blocks overseas, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters.
The initiative, which will also give a thrust to the recycling of materials such as lithium, cobalt, potash and graphite, will help reduce the country’s reliance on imports, he said in New Delhi. The nation relies almost entirely on overseas shipments for energy transition materials, including cobalt, nickel, lithium and copper ore and concentrates, with China being a key supplier.
Photo: AFP
The plan ties into Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call in 2020 for national economic self-reliance amid upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has since been part of global efforts to diversify supply chains away from China.
India has also been focusing on speedy implementation of several policies to meet its green targets. Modi’s government aims to more than double the country’s green power capacity by 2030 and has offered incentives for the manufacturing of battery storage systems to enable a round-the-clock supply of clean energy.
“Given the country’s vulnerability to geopolitical shifts surrounding critical minerals, this mission addresses a key area of concern,” Deloitte India partner Rakesh Surana said. “By improving self-sufficiency in this area, the country will be better positioned to meet its energy and industrial requirements, while also contributing to its long-term sustainability goals.”
The mission is expected to attract an investment of 180 billion rupees, the government’s Press Information Bureau said in a statement.
Batteries will also be crucial for decarbonizing India’s ground transport fleet that runs mostly on fossil fuels. Minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite would be key to the success of its battery-making plans.
The initiative will also help the country’s ambitions in electronics, nuclear and aerospace industries, the government statement said.
The mission will intensify the exploration of critical minerals within the country and in offshore areas.
It aims to create a fast track regulatory approval process for such projects, besides offering financial incentives for exploration and to promote the recovery of such materials from mining waste, it said.
The government will encourage state-run and private-sector companies to acquire critical mineral assets abroad and enhance trade with resource-rich countries, according to the statement.
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
RSS