Seventh tranche of critical mineral auctions launched

The Ministry of Mines opens the e-auction of 19 critical and strategic mineral blocks spread across 10 states, with rare earths, lithium and tungsten on offer.

What happened

• On 23 March 2026, the Union Minister of Coal and Mines launched the seventh tranche of the e-auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks, continuing the rolling auction programme the Centre has run since the 2023 mining-law reforms.
• The tranche puts up 19 blocks across 10 states — Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
• The minerals on offer span Rare Earth Elements (REE), Tungsten, Lithium, Graphite, Vanadium, Titanium, Glauconite and Rock Phosphate — feedstock for clean-energy technology, advanced manufacturing, fertilizers and defence applications.
• The Government framed the launch around mineral security and the energy transition, positioning domestic auction of these minerals as a hedge against import dependence.
• Two rule changes were highlighted: the Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2025 (streamlining post-auction timelines) and the Mineral (Auction) Amendment Rules, 2026, which let bidders furnish an Insurance Surety Bond instead of a bank guarantee.
• Sale of tender documents began 30 March 2026; the auction is run online on the MSTC platform through a two-stage ascending forward process.

Background & context

The auction sits inside the framework of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 — usually shortened to the MMDR Act — which is the parent statute governing the regulation of mines and the development of minerals in India. Since the MMDR Amendment Act, 2015, mineral concessions (mining leases and composite licences) are granted only through competitive auction rather than the old first-come-first-served discretionary route, a shift meant to make allocation transparent and revenue-yielding for the states that own the minerals.

The specific lineage of these critical-mineral tranches is the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023. That amendment did two decisive things. First, it removed six minerals — including lithium and titanium-bearing minerals, beryllium, niobium, tantalum and zirconium — from the list of "atomic minerals" that had been reserved for state agencies, opening them to private exploration and auction. Second, it created a new category of exploration licence and empowered the Central Government to auction blocks for a defined set of critical and strategic minerals, with the auction proceeds still flowing to the state where the block lies. This is why a "central" auction does not contradict the constitutional position that minerals are a state subject for revenue: the Centre conducts the auction; the state receives the royalty and premium.

The 2023 reform identified a schedule of 24 critical and strategic minerals (such as lithium, cobalt, REE, nickel, platinum-group elements and others) for which the Central Government, and not the state, holds the power to auction the block. The first tranche of such central auctions opened in late 2023; the launch reported here is the seventh in that rolling series, which is how the programme steadily widens domestic supply of the inputs an electric-vehicle, battery and renewable-energy economy needs.

The policy context is the National Critical Mineral Mission, announced in the 2025 Union Budget cycle, and the earlier identification by an expert committee of 30 critical minerals for India in 2023. The auctions are the supply-side instrument of that mission: the Geological Survey of India explores and hands over blocks, and the Ministry of Mines auctions them.

For Prelims

• Event: 7th tranche of the critical & strategic mineral block e-auction, launched 23 March 2026 by the Ministry of Mines.
• Scale: 19 blocks across 10 states (Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand).
• Minerals on offer: REE, Tungsten, Lithium, Graphite, Vanadium, Titanium, Glauconite, Rock Phosphate (plus Yttrium with REE in Karnataka).
• Statutory base: Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, as amended in 2023 — which moved 24 critical/strategic minerals to central auction and reclassified lithium and others out of the "atomic minerals" reserve.
• Allocation method: auctions only since the 2015 MMDR amendment; mining concessions are no longer granted on first-come-first-served.
• Auction mechanics: conducted online on the MSTC e-commerce platform; a two-stage ascending forward auction; winner chosen on the highest quoted percentage of the value of mineral despatched.
• 2026 rule change: the Mineral (Auction) Amendment Rules, 2026 permit an Insurance Surety Bond as an alternative to a bank guarantee for performance/financial security.
• 2025 rule change: the Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2025 streamlined timelines for performance security, upfront payment and the Letter of Intent.

State-wise distribution of the 19 blocks:

What it is NOT: this is not the launch of a new scheme or a new Act — it is the seventh round of an ongoing auction process operating under the existing MMDR Act. It is also not a grant of mineral blocks for free or by nomination; allocation is strictly by competitive bidding. The "central" auction does not mean the Centre keeps the royalty — the proceeds accrue to the host state. And critical minerals are not the same as "major minerals" in general; "critical" denotes economic and strategic importance plus supply-chain vulnerability, not abundance.

The full comparative set — distinguish the rule families: the MMDR Act, 1957 is the parent statute; the 2015 amendment introduced auctions; the 2021 amendment removed the captive/merchant distinction and freed end-use; the 2023 amendment created exploration licences and the central critical-minerals auction. Underneath sit the rules: the Minerals (Evidence of Mineral Contents) Rules, the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015, and their later amendments — the Second Amendment Rules, 2025 and Amendment Rules, 2026 cited here. Knowing which instrument did what answers a "match the pairs" or "which statement is correct" question.

Why it matters

Critical minerals are the choke point of the clean-energy and high-technology economy. Lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite are the core of battery cells; rare earth elements are essential for the permanent magnets in EV motors, wind turbines and defence electronics; tungsten hardens cutting tools and munitions; vanadium goes into grid-scale flow batteries and high-strength steel. India imports the bulk of these, and global supply is concentrated in a handful of countries — for several rare earths and processing steps, in a single dominant supplier. That concentration is a strategic vulnerability: a supply shock or export restriction abroad can stall India's energy transition and manufacturing build-out at home.

By auctioning domestic blocks, the Government is trying to build a home supply base and reduce that import dependence. The reforms attached to this tranche address the practical friction that has slowed past auctions: blocks that were won but never operationalised, and the cost of locking up capital in bank guarantees. Allowing an Insurance Surety Bond lowers the financial barrier to bidding, and the streamlined post-auction timelines aim to convert a winning bid into a working mine faster. The repeated framing of "cooperative federalism" reflects the structural reality that the Centre runs the auction but the states own the resource and receive the revenue — so the programme only works if states cooperate on land, clearances and exploration data.

For Mains