India Moves Toward a Critical-Minerals Stockpile: Policy Due Within a Month, Details Still Missing

What was said

On 9 October, on the sidelines of an Assocham event in New Delhi, Mines Secretary Keshav Chandra said the Ministry of Mines is likely to finalise a critical-minerals stockpiling policy within a month. Business Standard reports that the policy would set release rules, including how much material is released and to whom. He said stockpiling is not simply storing material in warehouses and that 'the protocol for this stockpile is very elaborate'.

He framed the stockpile as an alternative for minerals that are 'not sufficiently available' in India, noting that no country has every critical mineral domestically. That means recycling and overseas sourcing remain part of the picture.

What has not been announced

This is stated intent, not decided policy. Business Standard's report names no specific minerals, and no quantities or dedicated budget were given. The Ministry of Mines is the only agency named. Other coverage is looser: Whalesbook, on 9 and 10 October, lists lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths, and an undated alCircle report mentions a stockpile covering six months of local demand and includes copper, but neither attributes those details to an official source we could confirm. Earlier reports from 2025 spoke of a smaller, rare-earth-first stockpile with a shorter buffer. These differing accounts show the design is not settled.

The processing link

The Secretary tied the stockpile to domestic capability. He said black mass from lithium-ion battery recycling should be processed in India and not exported, that India needs its own processing technologies because countries that hold them are reluctant to share, and that more value addition should happen before export. A stockpile of raw or imported material helps only if India can also process it. This connects to the four planned critical-mineral processing parks covered in S-096 and the magnet-plant plans in S-153.

The Techadyant view

A reserve matters because critical minerals feed EV batteries and motors, electronics, and renewable-energy equipment, and a supply disruption would slow manufacturing and raise costs. A stockpile can cushion that, but only if it holds the right materials in usable form, such as processed oxides or magnets and not just ore, and has clear release rules. The Secretary's remark about release rules suggests the government is thinking about this. Until the policy is published, the key unknowns are which minerals, how much, who holds and pays for it, and how it connects to domestic processing.

What to watch next

Watch for the policy document itself within the next month: the mineral list, target coverage period, funding, the managing agency, release rules, and how recycled and domestically processed material counts toward the reserve.