Lok Sabha Question No. 1675 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-10
Subject: Strategy of Processing Minerals
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: Dr. C M Ramesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1675

ANSWERED ON 10.12.2025

## STRATEGY OF PROCESSING MINERALS

1675. Dr. C M Ramesh:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  strategy  for  value  addition, beneficiation and downstream processing of minerals within the country; (b)  if  so,  the  details  of  industrial  clusters  or  processing  facilities  established  or proposed under Public or Private Partnership thereof; (c) whether any measures have been taken by the Government to encourage domestic production of refined metals and alloys to reduce import dependence and if so, the details thereof; (d) the status of projects under the National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) and other Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for promoting mineral-based industries; and (e) the steps being taken to promote research and innovation in mineral processing technologies through collaboration with academic and Research and Development
- (R&D) Institutions?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COAL AND MINES (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a) to (c): The National Mineral Policy 2019 provides for encouraging value addition and  beneficiation  of  minerals  in  the  country  through  various  measures.  Fiscal incentives like import duty on base metals (7.5 percent in Primary Aluminium, and 5.0 percent  each  in  Refined  Copper,  Refined  Lead  and  Zinc)  provide  incentive  for industrial investment in mineral value addition. Due to above measures, the country is self-sufficient or close to self-sufficient in the production of many of these base metals, thereby reducing import dependence. Installed capacity in base metals (4.2 million tons (MT) in Primary Aluminium, 1.3 MT in refined copper, 0.84 MT in zinc and 0.2 MT in lead) reflects the high value addition of minerals - bauxite, copper, lead & zinc- in the  country.  National  Aluminium  Company  Limited  (NALCO)  and  Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation have set up Angul Aluminium Park.

(d): The major projects taken up in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under Ministry of Mines i.e. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) and Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) for promoting mineral based industries are as under:

-  3.5 million tons per annum (MTPA) Pottangi bauxite mine to increase bauxite production capacity
-  1.0 MTPA 5 th  stream refinery project to increase alumina production capacity
-  0.5 MTPA smelter expansion project to increase aluminium production capacity
-  Mine expansion projects in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan to increase copper ore production capacity from 4.4 MTPA to 12.2 MTPA

(e):  The  Ministry  of  Mines  provides  financial  support  under  the  Research  & Development  (R&D)  component  and  S&T-PRISM  (Promotion  of  Research  & Innovation  in  Startups  and  MSMEs)  component  of  the  Science  and  Technology Programme  for  undertaking  R&D  projects  in  mineral  processing,  metallurgical technologies,  and  mineral  beneficiation  techniques.  The  funding  is  extended  to academic institutions, universities, R&D institutions recognized by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, start-ups and MSMEs. Under the R&D component, a total of 161 projects amounting to ₹87.19 crore have been sanctioned since FY 201920. Since inception, under the S&T-PRISM component, 32 projects with a total funding of ₹40.8 crore have been sanctioned, for start-ups and MSMEs.

Additionally,  Ministry  of  Mines  has  recognized  9  premier  institutes  as  Centres  of Excellence (CoEs) under National Critical Mineral Mission to conduct focused R&D and  strengthen  domestic  capabilities  in  critical  mineral  value  chain.  Each  CoE operates as a consortium, on a hub & spoke model, to leverage the core competence of constituent industry and academic spokes.

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