Minerals In India
Government has released a list of 30 critical minerals for India. These minerals are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE, Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium.
Ore = Mineral (desired) + Unwanted Minerals
An ore is a natural occurrence of rock or sediment which contains enough minerals with economically important elements, typically metals, that can be extracted from the deposit economically.
Deep seated minerals: It refers to minerals that are found deep within the Earth’s crust and are typically more challenging and costly to explore and mine compared to minerals closer to the surface. Ex- gold, silver, copper, zinc etc.
India’s Position in Mine and Mineral
- India is highly dependent on imports of critical and deep seated minerals like
- 100% dependency – lithium, cobalt, nickel, niobium, beryllium etc.
- Very high dependency – copper, zinc, lead, gold etc.
- India is the world’s 4thlargest producer of iron ore and 2nd largest producer of coal as of 2021.
- India is the 2ndlargest producer of Aluminium globally.
- India’s mineral demand is projected to rise by 3% in 2023.
- Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 was amended in 2015 for introduction of auction-based mineral allocation, established DMF for community welfare and NMET.
- As per the Mine and Minerals Development Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2015, in every district affected by mining-related operations, the state government shall, by notification, establish a trust as a non-profit body to be called the District Mineral Foundation. Every mining lease holder will pay a fraction of royalty, not exceeding 1/3rdof the royalty.
- NMET is a Trust set up as a non-profit body by the Central Government for the purposes of regional and detailed exploration of minerals using the funds accrued to it and in such manner as prescribed by the Central Government.
Then there were multiple amendments – 2016, 2020, 2021 – focused on emerging challenges and reforms, including removing the captive vs merchant mine distinction.
India-US Deal on Semiconductor
The MoU seeks to establish a collaborative mechanism on semiconductor supply chain resiliency and diversification in view of US’s CHIPS and Science Act, 2022 and India’s Semiconductor Mission.
As its name implies, a semiconductor is a material that conducts current, but only partly. The conductivity of a semiconductor is somewhere between that of an insulator, which has almost no conductivity, and a conductor, which has almost full conductivity. Most semiconductors are crystals made of certain materials, most commonly silicon.
Most conductors have just one electron in the valence shell.
Semiconductors, on the other hand, typically have four electrons in their valence shell.
Each silicon atom is bonded with four other silicon atoms.
The process of deliberately introducing other elements into a crystal is called doping. The element introduced by doping is called a dopant.
N-type semiconductor: Created when the dopant is an element that has five electrons in its valence layer. Phosphorus is commonly used for this purpose.
Because the phosphorus atom has five electrons in its valence shell, but only four of them are bonded to adjacent atoms, the fifth valence electron is left hanging out with nothing to bond to.
The extra valence electrons in the phosphorous atoms start to behave like the single valence electrons in a regular conductor such as copper. They are free to move about.
P-type semiconductor: Happens when the dopant (such as boron) has only three electrons in the valence shell. Since it has only three electrons to offer, a hole is created. The hole behaves like a positive charge, so semiconductors doped in this way are called P-type semiconductors.
Where does India Stand in the Semiconductor Market?
- Indian semiconductor industry in 2022 was USD 27 Billion, with over 90% being imported, and therefore a significant external dependence for Indian chip consumers.
- Countries exporting semiconductors to India include China, Taiwan, the USA, Japan, etc.
- The Indian semiconductor market is expected to reach USD 55 Billion by 2026 with its own consumption of semiconductors expected to cross USD 80 billion by 2026 and to USD 110 billion by 2030.
Steps taken by India
- In 2021, India announced its roughly USD 10 billion-dollar Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country.
- In 2021, the MeitY also launched the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme to nurture at least 20 domestic companies involved in semiconductor design and facilitate them to achieve a turnover of more than Rs.1500 crore in the next 5 years.
- India has also launched the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) for manufacturing of electronics components and semiconductors.
- India’s Semiconductor Mission was launched in 2021 with a total financial outlay of Rs 76,000 crore as a part of the comprehensive program for the development of sustainable semiconductors and display ecosystem in India. The components of the mission include:
- Scheme for setting up of Semiconductor Fabs in India
- Scheme for setting up of Display Fabs in India – fiscal support of up to 50% of Project Cost subject to a ceiling of INR 12,000 crore per Fab.
- Scheme for setting up of Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics / Sensors Fab and Semiconductor ATMP/ OSAT facilities in India.