Parliament Question: National Critical Mineral Mission

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4096 ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 NATIONAL CRITICAL MINERAL MISSION 4096. SHRI YERRAM VENKATA SUBBA REDDY: Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that GSI carried out nearly 200 critical mineral exploration projects under National Critical Mineral Mission; (b) if so, out of 200 above, the details of projects, carried out in the State of Andhra Pradesh; (c) details of critical and strategically important mineral blocks auctioned during the last five years and whether there are any blocks from the State; and (d) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COAL AND MINES (SHRI SATISH CHANDRA DUBEY) (a) and (b): Aligning with the objectives of the National Critical Mineral Mission, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) took up 195 mineral exploration projects for critical minerals in field season 2024-25 and 230 projects in field season 2025-26. Out of these, in Andhra Pradesh, GSI took up 8 mineral exploration projects for critical minerals during field season 2024-25 and 11 projects in field season 2025-26. The details are at Annexure-I. (c) and (d): From 2021-22 till the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 (MMDR Amendment Act, 2023), a total of 20 critical mineral blocks (4 Mining Leases and 16 Composite Licences) were auctioned by State Governments. The MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 empowered the Central Government to exclusively auction Mining Leases (ML) and Composite Licences (CL) in respect of critical and strategic minerals specified in Part D of the First Schedule of the MMDR Act. Post MMDR Amendment 2023, the Central Government has auctioned 46 critical mineral blocks which include 7 ML and 39 CL. Out of these, 2 blocks have been auctioned as CL in Andhra Pradesh and the details are as follows: Name of Block Commodity Year Balepalyam Tungsten and Associated Mineral Tungsten and Associated 2024-25 Block Mineral Laxmipuram Cobalt and Manganese Cobalt and Manganese 2025-26 Block *****Annexure-I Details of critical and strategic minerals exploration projects took up by GSI in the Andhra Pradesh during field season 2024-25 and field season 2025-26 Sl. Field Name of Mineral Block / UNFC District Mineral No. Season Area Stage Field Season 2024-2025 1 2024-25 Eluru Aliveru-Doramamidi G4 Graphite Vizianagaram and Alluri 2 2024-25 Korlam-Budatanapalli G4 Graphite Sitaramraju Murrichintala- 3 2024-25 Y.S.R Kadapa G4 Lithium Venkatapuram Nandyal and 4 2024-25 Kommamarri-Racherla G4 Phosphorite Ananthapuramu 5 2024-25 Nellore Kottapalem-Chamadala G4 REE 6 2024-25 Kurnool Gudur-Bididapad G4 Tin 7 2024-25 Annamayya Endapally G4 REE Vijayanagaram and 8 2024-25 Chelluru-Savaravilli G4 REE Visakhapatnam Field Season 2025-2026 1 2025-26 Alluri Sitharama Raju Utla G2 Graphite 2 2025-26 Anakapalli Chinna Kokkirapalli G3 Graphite 3 2025-26 Prakasam Podili G3 Niobium 4 2025-26 Prakasam Kanigiri G3 Niobium Visakhapatnam and Kasipatnam- 5 2025-26 G4 REE Vizianagaram Venkayyapalem 6 2025-26 Palnadu and Prakasam Chintalacheruvu G4 REE 7 2025-26 Anantapur Erraguntapalle - Putluru G4 Phosphorite 8 2025-26 SPSR Nellore Chintalapalem-Siripuram G4 REE 9 2025-26 Bapatla and Palnadu Elchuru-Gurjepalli G4 REE Raghavapatnam- 10 2025-26 East Godavari G4 Graphite Peddamallapuram 11 2025-26 Sri Satya Sai Tekulodu-Chilamaturu G4 Nickel