Geography & BiodiversityPriority2025-07-02

India Launches Mineral Exploration Project in Zambia

Why focus: GS1 Geography/GS3 Economy. Critical mineral assets in Africa perfectly fit the 'Match-the-Following' (Mineral-Country) Prelims template.

In News

What Happened

On July 2, 2025, India dispatched a specialized team of geologists to Zambia to begin surveying a 9,000 square kilometre zone for critical minerals. Led by the state-owned joint venture Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) and the Geological Survey of India, the three-year exploration project specifically targets copper and cobalt deposits. The analysis of the geological samples is primarily conducted in Indian laboratories to determine commercial viability.

Why It Matters

This project marks a significant geographical expansion of India's $4 billion National Critical Mineral Mission into Africa, moving beyond passive importing to direct overseas asset acquisition. By securing primary sources of cobalt and copper, India seeks to insulate its electric vehicle and renewable energy manufacturing sectors from global supply shocks and aggressively reduce its heavy import dependence on China.

Background

History & Context

India's structural vulnerability in critical minerals was first formally highlighted in a 2011 Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) report, which identified 12 strategic minerals necessary for industrial growth. To address this, the Ministry of Mines established Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) in August 2019 as a joint venture between NALCO, Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL), and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Ltd (MECL). India's copper deficit worsened significantly following the 2018 closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper smelter in Tamil Nadu, pushing copper imports to 1.2 million metric tons by March 2025. Concurrently, cobalt oxide imports surged by 20 percent in the 2024-25 fiscal year. To combat this supply chain fragility, the Union Budget 2024-25 announced the National Critical Mineral Mission, establishing a dedicated fund and tasking KABIL with aggressively securing overseas assets, starting with lithium in Argentina and culminating in this massive copper-cobalt push in the African Copperbelt.

What Changed

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Sourcing Strategy: BEFORE - India relied almost entirely on open-market imports of processed cobalt and refined copper from nations like China. NOW - India is directly acquiring upstream exploration and mining assets overseas through government-to-government agreements via KABIL.
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African Mineral Engagement: BEFORE - Indian investment in Africa's mining sector was largely limited to fragmented private enterprise efforts or broad trade agreements. NOW - India is deploying a unified, state-backed geological exploration program covering a massive 9,000 sq km block in Zambia with a dedicated $4 billion critical minerals war chest.
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Institutional Framework: BEFORE - Overseas mineral exploration lacked a coordinated nodal agency and dedicated mission funding. NOW - The National Critical Mineral Mission coordinates inter-ministerial efforts, empowering KABIL to partner globally and operationalize projects in high-yield regions like the African Copperbelt.
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Copper Supply Chain Control: BEFORE - India's copper supply chain was severely bottlenecked by the 2018 shutdown of domestic smelting capacity, leaving the nation vulnerable to refined copper price volatility. NOW - By seeking captive copper deposits in Zambia, India aims to rebuild its supply chain from the raw ore stage, ensuring a steady feed for future domestic or joint-venture refineries.
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Cobalt Exclusivity: BEFORE - India had zero captive overseas cobalt assets and negligible domestic reserves, making battery manufacturing highly vulnerable. NOW - The Zambian allocation provides India with exclusive reconnaissance and exploration rights over one of the world's highest-grade cobalt reserves.

What Did NOT Change

Despite the landmark exploration agreement, immediate extraction and commercial mining rights were not guaranteed by the Zambian government upfront, requiring a separate and potentially complex approval process post-exploration. Furthermore, India's immediate import dependency remains unchanged in the short term, as bringing greenfield mining projects to commercial production typically takes several years.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

This event directly connects to Class 12 Geography (India People and Economy), Chapter 7 'Mineral and Energy Resources'. The chapter discusses the distribution of non-ferrous minerals like copper in India (e.g., Balaghat, Khetri) and highlights India's poor reserves of these strategic resources. The Zambian exploration project represents the real-world strategic policy response (overseas acquisition via KABIL) to the geological deficit of critical minerals described in the NCERT text.

Common Misconceptions

✗ India has sufficient domestic copper and cobalt reserves to support its electric vehicle transition if mined properly.

✓ India is structurally deficient in cobalt and its domestic copper ore production falls massively short of demand, necessitating near-total reliance on imports for cobalt and heavy imports for copper.

Students often confuse the presence of historical domestic copper mines (like Khetri or Malanjkhand) with self-sufficiency, ignoring the massive gap between domestic ore production and modern industrial consumption.

✗ KABIL is a private sector consortium established to trade minerals on the global commodity market.

✓ KABIL is a purely state-owned joint venture (NALCO, HCL, MECL) operating under the Ministry of Mines, mandated specifically to acquire overseas strategic mineral assets, not just trade them.

The term 'Bidesh' (foreign) and its aggressive international acquisition strategy often lead students to mistake it for a private multinational trading firm.

Practice Questions

Q1

How Many Correct

Consider the following statements regarding India's strategic mineral initiatives and the Zambian exploration project: 1. Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) is a joint venture between NALCO, Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), and the Geological Survey of India (GSI). 2. Zambia is located in the African Copperbelt and is a major global producer of both copper and cobalt. 3. The National Critical Mineral Mission aims to secure the supply chain of 30 identified critical minerals through domestic exploration and overseas acquisitions. How many of the statements given above are correct?

Q2

Match the Following

Match the following entities involved in India's critical mineral strategy (List I) with their respective primary roles or descriptions (List II): List I (Entity) A. KABIL B. HCL C. MECL D. Sterlite Copper (Vedanta) List II (Role/Description) 1. India's only vertically integrated copper producing public sector enterprise. 2. Nodal joint venture mandated to acquire strategic minerals overseas. 3. Major domestic copper smelting plant whose 2018 closure spiked India's import reliance. 4. Premier public sector agency responsible for detailed mineral exploration and consultancy. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Q3

Assertion & Reason

Assertion (A): India has aggressively initiated overseas exploration projects for copper and cobalt, such as the 9,000 sq km allocation in Zambia. Reason (R): The 2018 closure of major domestic copper smelting facilities and the lack of viable domestic cobalt reserves have forced India to secure primary raw material assets abroad to support its EV transition. Select the correct answer:

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