🇮🇳⛏️ 🏗️ 🔋 ⚡🏭 Can India Repeat Its Petroleum Refining Success With Lithium, Cobalt and Nickel?
India’s Next Big Industrial Opportunity: Can Critical Minerals Refining Replicate the Petroleum Success Story?
India transformed imported crude oil into a globally competitive refining industry. Now, lithium, cobalt and nickel could open the door to another major manufacturing opportunity.
India’s journey from an import-dependent petroleum economy to one of the world’s largest oil-refining hubs offers a powerful lesson: a country does not need to possess abundant natural resources to become a global leader in processing them.
A recent Observer Research Foundation (ORF) report, Domestic Refining of Critical Minerals: India’s Next Petroleum Story highlights how India can apply this experience to critical minerals essential for electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy, batteries and advanced manufacturing.
The opportunity is significant—and India already has several foundations in place.
Why Critical Minerals Could Be India’s Next Growth Engine
Lithium, cobalt and nickel are essential inputs for several advanced battery technologies. With India’s electric mobility and energy-storage industries expanding, securing these minerals is becoming an economic and strategic priority.
India currently relies heavily on imports for these materials. However, importing mineral concentrates and refining them domestically could enable the country to capture greater value, create skilled employment and strengthen supply-chain resilience.
The petroleum sector provides an encouraging precedent.
India has become the world’s third-largest oil refiner despite importing most of its crude oil. Its established capabilities in chemical processing, industrial infrastructure, engineering and international sourcing offer a valuable foundation for critical-mineral refining.
A ₹34,300-Crore Push Towards Mineral Security
India’s National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), approved in 2025, represents a major step towards building a domestic critical-minerals ecosystem.
The mission provides for:
- ₹16,300 crore in planned government expenditure.
- ₹18,000 crore in expected investment by public-sector enterprises and other stakeholders.
- Support for domestic exploration, overseas mineral acquisition, processing, recycling and research.
- Development of mineral-processing infrastructure and advanced technologies.
Together, these commitments and expected investments amount to ₹34,300 crore.
The mission provides a policy framework for moving beyond mineral imports towards greater domestic value addition.
India Already Has a Head Start
India is not starting from scratch.
According to the ORF report, the country already processes seven of its 30 identified critical minerals, including copper, graphite, silicon and rare-earth elements.
Its emerging capabilities are equally encouraging.
Lithium: The report highlights a battery-grade lithium refining facility established by Lohum in Greater Noida in 2025, with an initial reported capacity of approximately 1,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent annually.
Cobalt and nickel: Existing companies such as Nicomet and Rubamin provide a domestic industrial base that can support future expansion.
Research and innovation: Indian institutions, including CSIR-IMMT and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, have developed technologies for recovering and processing critical minerals.
The next opportunity lies in scaling promising technologies into commercially competitive operations.
Lessons from China, Finland and South Korea
The ORF report identifies three countries that demonstrate how mineral-processing industries can develop through international partnerships and industrial integration.
China has established extensive processing capabilities supported by manufacturing scale and investment in refining technologies.
Finland has developed a specialised cobalt-refining ecosystem combining imported feedstock, technological expertise and industrial infrastructure.
South Korea is strengthening lithium processing alongside its battery and cathode manufacturing industries.
Their experiences highlight four priorities for India: secure feedstock, invest in technology, develop integrated processing hubs and connect refineries with downstream manufacturers.
Turning Mineral Processing into Manufacturing Strength
One of the most promising recommendations is to establish integrated mineral-processing parks.
Co-locating compatible industries can enable shared infrastructure, chemical inputs, utilities and logistics, potentially reducing costs.
India’s existing chemical and metallurgical clusters in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha and other industrial states could provide suitable foundations, subject to detailed technical and environmental assessments.
At the same time, expanding domestic cathode and battery manufacturing would create reliable demand for locally refined minerals.
This integrated approach could strengthen India’s competitiveness across the entire battery value chain.
The Road Ahead: From Import Dependence to Value Addition
India’s critical-minerals opportunity is not limited to mining.
By combining international mineral partnerships with domestic refining, research, recycling and advanced manufacturing, the country can build a more resilient industrial ecosystem.
Success will depend on commercially viable technologies, reliable feedstock agreements, environmental safeguards and demand-driven investments.
India’s petroleum success demonstrated the power of value addition. Critical-mineral refining offers an opportunity to apply that lesson to the industries of the future.
With focused execution, India can move from being primarily a consumer of critical minerals to becoming an important participant in their global processing and manufacturing value chains.
