Can India become a global manufacturing power without securing the minerals that power its future industries?

India is scaling electric mobility, renewable energy, semiconductor manufacturing, defence production and modern power infrastructure. But behind each of these ambitions lies a less visible strategic dependency: critical minerals.

Lithium and graphite power batteries. Rare earth elements support advanced motors and defence technologies. Gallium and germanium are important for semiconductor and strategic applications. Copper is fundamental to electrification. Phosphorus and potash connect mineral security directly with India’s food security.

As demand rises, the question is no longer simply where these minerals are found. The larger question is:

Who controls their mining, processing and refining and what does that mean for India’s industrial ambitions?

This report by VP Research Company examines critical minerals not merely as natural resources, but as strategic inputs into India’s next phase of industrial development.

What This Report Examines

The study analyses 14 critical minerals across six strategically important industries:

Electric Vehicles & Advanced Batteries | Renewable Energy | Electronics & Semiconductors | Defence & Aerospace | Power Infrastructure | Fertilisers & Food Security

For each mineral, the report examines its global resource base, production, processing and refining, leading countries and companies, demand outlook, India’s resource position, import dependence, industrial applications and major supply-chain risks.

But the report goes beyond mineral availability.

It asks a more important business and policy question:

How are the world’s leading companies securing the materials necessary to remain competitive and what can India learn from them?

Inside the Report: Lessons from Global Industry Leaders

The report studies strategies and practices adopted by leading companies operating across mineral-intensive industries.

These include semiconductor leaders TSMC, Samsung Electronics and Intel, examining approaches such as strategic supplier partnerships, multi-country procurement, responsible sourcing, material recovery, recycling and geographically diversified supply chains.

In defence and aerospace, the report examines Lockheed Martin, RTX Corporation and BAE Systems, including how global defence businesses are responding to the strategic importance of titanium, rare earth elements, tungsten, gallium, germanium and other specialised materials.

For India’s expanding electricity infrastructure, the study draws lessons from Hitachi Energy, Siemens Energy and GE Vernova, connecting critical-mineral availability with grid expansion, digitalisation, renewable-energy integration, HVDC transmission, energy storage and advanced power electronics.

Across these cases, one pattern becomes clear: leading companies increasingly treat critical minerals as a strategic business issue not simply a procurement issue.

Some Questions the Report Answers

• Which critical minerals matter most for India’s next-generation industries?
• Where are global mining, processing and refining capacities concentrated?
• How dependent is India on external mineral supply chains?
• Why can mineral-processing concentration create risks even when global geological resources are relatively diversified?
• How are leading global companies reducing supply-chain vulnerability?
• What role can recycling, material recovery and alternative technologies play?
• Which capabilities should India build domestically?
• What can Indian businesses learn from global critical-mineral strategies?

One Finding Worth Paying Attention To

The vulnerability is not limited to whether India possesses a mineral underground.

The report finds that processing and refining capacity for several minerals is considerably more geographically concentrated than geological availability itself. This means industrial dependence can persist even when raw mineral resources exist across multiple countries.

For industries investing billions in new manufacturing capacity, that distinction matters.

Why This Report Matters

India’s next industrial revolution will require more than factories, capital and technology.

It will require resilient access to the materials on which those factories and technologies depend.

The report therefore connects mineral security with industrial competitiveness, technological capability, supply-chain resilience and national economic strategy and examines what governments and businesses can do before mineral constraints become industrial constraints.

Download the Full Report

Access the complete research to explore the 14-mineral analysis, six industry studies, global and Indian market assessment, company case studies, supply-chain risks, data tables, strategic recommendations and implications for India.