New Delhi, Mar 14 (IANS): The Ministry of Mines launched the third tranche of E-auction for seven blocks of critical and strategic minerals on Thursday.

These seven blocks pertain to critical minerals such as glauconite, graphite, nickel, PGE, potash, lithium, and titanium, and are spread across Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

These critical minerals are essential for India’s economic development and national security. Currently, a few countries dominate the extraction of these minerals, including China, which may lead to supply chain vulnerabilities.

Critical minerals are used as inputs for sectors like electronics, electric vehicles, renewable energy, defence, high-tech telecommunications, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and the creation of gigafactories. These minerals are in high demand, which is met mainly by imports.

These seven mineral blocks are being auctioned under the second attempt after they received less than three bids in the first tranche.

The Central government has launched the auction of 38 critical and strategic minerals to date.

The first tranche and the second tranche consisting of 20 and 18 blocks, respectively, were launched by Union Minister of Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, on November 29, 2023, and February 29, 2024, respectively.