Cabinet approves new royalty rates for four critical minerals

By Pratyush Deep

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved rationalisation of royalty rates for four critical minerals — graphite, caesium, rubidium, and zirconium — considered critical for green energy. The decision aims to facilitate indigenous production and reduce imports of these minerals to avoid supply chain vulnerabilities, the Cabinet said.

It comes at a time when import restrictions imposed by China —which has a monopoly over the critical and rare earth mineral production — are posing challenges to the global supply chain.

The Cabinet approved changing of royalty rate calculation mechanism for graphite from per tonne basis to ad valorem basis. “Fixing of royalty rates of graphite on ad valorem basis will proportionately reflect the change in prices of the mineral across grades,”