India, Australia to ink pact on strategic minerals today

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, March 20

With an eye on China, Australia will sign an updated MoU in the field of critical minerals during its Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s virtual summit with PM Narendra Modi on Monday.

The new agreement updates a two-year-old MoU on increasing bilateral trade, investment and R&D in critical minerals.

Australia will also announce Rs 1,500 crore investments in India in multiple sectors, which will be the largest-ever investment by the Australian government in India. Of this, Rs 193 crore is for clean technology and critical minerals cooperation.

“This will demonstrate that the PMs are building the bilateral architecture in the post-pandemic world and are poised to lift their cooperation to even higher levels,” said sources.

The offer to India, which will be followed up by Mining Minister Pralhad Joshi’s visit to Australia to scout for opportunities in metallic coal and lithium, is part of Canberra’s $360 million funding programme to boost production of critical minerals and diversify supplies to allies.

It may be a coincidence that two days before Morrison opens the door for Indian investments in lithium, the raw material for batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), Maruti Suzuki announced a $2 billion investment in EVs during the India visit of Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, another Quad country. In September last year, a meeting of the Quad group had agreed to improve supply chain security for rare earths.

With US President Joe Biden’s launch of talks on a new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework delayed, the beginning of joint work on cyber security and rare earths should keep the Quad members interested in the concept.

The sources said the virtual summit will also see the opening of a new consulate in Bengaluru, taking the number of missions to five — four consulates and the High Commission in Delhi.

With negotiators from both sides working on the text for the past three months, the sources were hopeful of the initial agreement to be concluded by month-end.

Investment worth Rs 1,500 cr on anvil

• Australia will announce Rs 1,500 crore investments in India in multiple sectors
• Mining Minister Pralhad Joshi to visit Australia to scout for opportunities in metallic coal and lithium