Hindalco Industries Ltd., a metals firm owned by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, is putting in bids for important minerals exploration sites that India is auctioning off. The company wants to expand its inventory of materials needed for the global switch to green energy.
In order to progressively transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, India started the process late last year of holding its first round of auctions for vital mineral sites. The government will pay Rs 45,000 crore ($5.4 billion) for the rights to approximately 20 blocks of land so that they can be mined for metals, including molybdenum and rare earths.
Managing Director Satish Pai stated in a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Television, "We are looking at minerals like lithium, graphite, nickel, and copper ores, so there are quite a few interesting critical minerals auctions coming up and we have taken and applied for most of the available lots. They are all licenses for exploration."
The majority of essential minerals are now imported into India, and the development of the market for electric vehicles and the renewable energy industry depends on having access to local mines. In an effort to lessen its excessive reliance on China, the government has made billion-dollar incentives available under a production-linked incentive scheme to increase the manufacture of battery cells.
"It's fascinating how underutilized India is for these kinds of vital minerals, and we will definitely be involved in that using our mining expertise," Pai remarked. "Our main focus is on everything that has to do with electrification and electric batteries." He continued, "It would take a few years of exploration before large-scale mining could take place."
Following an approach from the Indian government, Hindalco is also working on a project to extract additional gallium from bauxite, a resource used to manufacture aluminium, according to Pai's statement in November. The company intends to extract some rare earth elements from a future copper and e-waste recycling facility in addition to being a major producer of vanadium already.
