Workstreams
Workstreams
Supply-Side
On the supply side, the assessment examines how India can secure the critical minerals required for the energy transition.
Demand-Side
On the demand side, the focus is on how much critical minerals India will need as it scales up low-emission technologies.
Cross-Cutting Initiatives
Bringing demand and supply perspectives together reveals key workstreams in the critical mineral value chain.
Supply-Side
On the supply side, the assessment examines how India can secure the critical minerals required for the energy transition through a combination of domestic reserves and production, international trade, and circular economy approaches. It maps key risks and vulnerabilities across these routes, including geopolitical exposure, high market concentration, ESG concerns, technology gaps, and institutional bottlenecks. The analysis highlights the need to enhance exploration, mineral processing, refining, and recycling capabilities, enabling more of the critical mineral value chain to be developed and retained within the country. In line with the 3C-SET approach, it also reviews the current policy and regulatory landscape to see how far it meets India’s needs, and where there is scope to improve institutional frameworks, spur innovation, and build strategic international partnerships for a resilient and people-centric mineral economy.
Demand-Side
On the demand side, the focus is on how much critical minerals India will need as it scales up low-emission technologies. The assessment is built around a clear set of technologies that sit at the heart of the energy transition: solar photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, wind turbines, electric vehicles (EVs), battery energy storage systems (BESS), and hydrogen electrolysers. For these technologies, mineral demand is estimated at key milestone years out to 2070 under two pathways – a Business-as-Usual (BAU) Scenario and a Net-Zero (NZ) Scenario aligned with India’s climate goals. Comparing the two scenarios side by side reveals how material requirements evolve in response to varying levels of climate ambition, enabling the use of this insight to inform technology planning, industrial strategy, and critical mineral security.
Cross-Cutting Initiatives
Bringing the demand and supply perspectives together points to several cross-cutting workstreams that run through the entire critical mineral value chain. These include integrated modelling that links technology deployment, mineral demand, supply risks, and circular economy inputs; coordinated R&D and innovation to lower mineral intensity through efficiency gains, material substitution, and design changes; and stronger circular economy systems for recycling, repurposing, and secondary mineral recovery. Alongside this, India will need to deepen strategic trade partnerships, expand domestic exploration and processing, and gradually onshore more value-added activities, all while upholding strong ESG safeguards and delivering benefits to affected communities. These efforts will depend on an enabling policy and regulatory ecosystem, improved institutional coordination, sustainable finance, skilled human resources, and enhanced data and digital systems for transparency, traceability, and disclosure across the mineral supply chain, all of which are at the core of the 3C-SET vision and way of working.
Mine-to-Market lifecycle
The Mine-to-Market lifecycle encompasses every stage of a mineral’s journey—from exploration, extraction, and processing to manufacturing, product use, and eventual recycling or reuse. This end-to-end perspective highlights the interconnected nature of the mining and manufacturing ecosystems, emphasizing efficiency, traceability, and sustainability at each step. By integrating responsible practices across the entire lifecycle, stakeholders can minimize environmental impact, enhance value addition within domestic supply chains, and support a more circular and transparent approach to critical mineral management.
Scenario-based demand curves (2025 to 2050)
The 2025 Outlook also explores key techno-economic issues such as policy mechanisms to support diversification; mineral supply chains for emerging battery technologies; recent innovations in mining, refining and recycling; and a broader view on strategic minerals for applications beyond the energy sector. As a new chapter, the report also includes a comprehensive review of mineral markets and policy developments in different regions. The report will be accompanied by an updated version of our Critical Minerals Data Explorer, an interactive online tool that allows users to explore the latest IEA projections.
Circularity pathways
The Circularity pathways explore strategies to extend the life cycle of critical minerals through reuse, recycling, and resource recovery. By promoting material efficiency and reducing dependency on virgin extraction, these pathways help close the loop within the Mine-to-Market system. Advancing circular practices not only conserves natural resources but also enhances supply resilience, lowers environmental impacts, and supports a more sustainable and inclusive energy transition.
