Faster approvals for critical minerals, but no green law exemption: Centre

The Environment Ministry has set up a separate category on its online clearance portal to speed up approvals for mining projects involving critical minerals, a move aimed at boosting domestic supply of resources considered essential for clean energy and advanced technologies, the government informed Parliament on Monday.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said the Mines Ministry had in February requested faster clearances for such projects, following which the new facility was added to the Parivesh 2.0 portal on March 13.

The step comes after amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, which gave the Centre powers to auction 24 minerals identified as critical and strategic.

These include lithium, nickel, tungsten, titanium and graphite, which India largely imports but needs for sectors such as defence, electronics and renewable energy.

So far, 34 blocks of these minerals have been auctioned across the country, the minister said, adding they are vital to meeting India's goal of becoming self-reliant in key materials for the energy transition and its net zero target for 2070.

Singh also said that projects will not get any exemption from the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, or the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.

The new sub-category on the portal has only been created to improve monitoring of proposals that need central approval under the forest law, he said.

He also informed the House that detailed guidelines were issued on March 17, 2025, for linear projects such as highways and railways. These allow the extraction of more than 20,000 cubic metres of ordinary earth without a separate environmental clearance, subject to conditions laid down under the amended EIA rules.

According to him, the time limits for considering terms of reference and environment clearance applications remain unchanged under the EIA notification. State governments will continue to play the lead role in protecting forests and wildlife, including demarcation and digitisation of boundaries and action against violations.

Joint Forest Management Committees and eco-development groups are also involved in monitoring, while breaches of the forest law attract penalties under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.

The Union Cabinet in January this year cleared the National Critical Mineral Mission, which covers exploration, mining, processing and recovery of these minerals from end-of-life products.

The mission is intended to secure supplies of minerals that India currently depends on a few countries for and to provide a quicker regulatory pathway for projects in this sector.