What Happened
- India's discussions with Zambia over access to critical mineral deposits — specifically cobalt and copper — have stalled because Zambia has not provided adequate assurances on mining rights to Indian entities.
- India received an allocation of 9,000 square kilometres of land in Zambia for mineral exploration. Indian geologists were dispatched, conducted surveys, and returned with mineral samples — but the programme cannot proceed to the investment phase without guaranteed mining rights.
- India's state-owned mineral company Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) had been leading these negotiations as part of India's broader critical minerals diplomacy in Africa.
- New Delhi is attempting to restart discussions, but sources describe the situation as "still uncertain."
- India is almost entirely import-dependent for cobalt and copper — cobalt imports rose 20% in 2024-25 to 693 metric tons, while copper imports hit 1.2 million metric tons (FY2025), up 4% year-on-year.
Static Topic Bridges
Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) and India's Critical Minerals Strategy
KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Limited) is a joint venture company formed in 2019 between three Central Public Sector Enterprises: National Aluminium Company (NALCO), Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited (MECL). It operates under the Ministry of Mines and is mandated to identify, acquire, explore, and develop strategic mineral assets overseas.
- KABIL's mandate: Secure overseas sources of critical minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite — essential for energy transition (EV batteries, grid storage)
- India's Critical Minerals List (2023): 30 minerals identified as critical — including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, silicon, vanadium, PGMs, and rare earths
- KABIL has signed MoUs with Australia's CSIRO and with Argentina's CAMYEN for lithium exploration in the Puna region
- KABIL's Zambia engagement: exploration rights for cobalt and copper across 9,000 sq km
- India's 2023 Critical Minerals Mission: ₹16,300 crore outlay to secure domestic processing capacity and overseas assets
Connection to this news: KABIL's stalled Zambia talks reveal the fundamental tension in resource diplomacy — exploration rights (to survey) are relatively easy to secure, but mining rights (to extract and export) require far more robust bilateral agreements, often including revenue-sharing, employment, and local processing obligations that host countries prioritise.
Zambia's Critical Mineral Position: The "Copper Belt"
Zambia is one of the world's largest copper producers and hosts significant cobalt deposits, particularly in the Central African Copper Belt — a mineralised region straddling Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
- Zambia: world's 6th largest copper producer (~770,000 tonnes/year); copper accounts for ~70% of Zambia's export earnings
- Cobalt: largely a by-product of copper mining in Zambia; DRC accounts for ~70% of global cobalt supply, Zambia is a secondary producer
- Zambia's "Copper Belt" province: historically mined by Anglo-American, Vedanta, Glencore; ownership has shifted to Chinese companies
- China's dominance: Chinese companies control ~65–70% of DRC cobalt supply chains and have significant assets in Zambia's copper belt — creating supply security concerns for India, US, EU
- Zambia's negotiating leverage: can extract premium terms from competing suitors (India, US, EU, China)
Connection to this news: Zambia's reluctance to give India binding mining rights assurances likely reflects its desire to maximise sovereign control over extraction proceeds — a position strengthened by global competition for these minerals and by the precedent of Chinese companies having gained highly favourable terms earlier. India's lack of a large commercial investment guarantee (unlike China's "resource-for-infrastructure" model) is a structural disadvantage.
India's Critical Minerals Diplomacy: Australia, Argentina, Zambia
India has pursued a multi-country strategy to secure critical mineral supply chains:
- Australia: India-Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership (2022); Australia is a major source of lithium (Pilbara), cobalt, and rare earths; India-Australia Critical Minerals Partnership is part of the broader bilateral ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement)
- Argentina: KABIL exploring lithium in the Lithium Triangle (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile — accounts for ~60% of global lithium reserves); CAMYEN JV in Catamarca province
- Zambia: Copper and cobalt; exploration MoU; now stalled at mining rights stage
- Congo (DRC): India sent mineral attachés; exploratory talks but no formal agreement
- Mongolia: Rare earth cooperation discussions
- India's own critical mineral production: Limited — Odisha and Jharkhand have some base metals; critical mineral processing capacity nearly absent domestically
Connection to this news: The Zambia setback is a reminder that resource diplomacy requires more than exploration agreements — it needs commercially backed deals, often with infrastructure or processing investment quid pro quo, which India's state-led approach through KABIL has struggled to match against Chinese competition.
Key Facts & Data
- KABIL formed: 2019; JV of NALCO, HCL, MECL under Ministry of Mines
- India's critical minerals list: 30 minerals (updated 2023)
- Zambia allocation to India: 9,000 sq km for exploration (cobalt and copper)
- India's cobalt imports (2024-25): 693 metric tons (up 20%)
- India's copper imports (FY2025): 1.2 million metric tons (up 4%)
- India's Sterlite Copper smelter closure: 2018; caused sharp rise in copper import dependency
- Zambia's copper production: ~770,000 tonnes/year; 6th largest globally
- Central African Copper Belt: spans Zambia and DRC; largest cobalt-copper geological province outside DRC
- China controls ~65–70% of DRC cobalt supply chains
- KABIL-Australia deal: part of India-Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership (2022)
- KABIL-Argentina: lithium exploration in Catamarca province via CAMYEN JV