The Union Ministry of Mines would be launching the seventh tranche of auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks on Monday (March 23, 2026), it informed. The latest tranche would offer 19 blocks across several states under both mining lease and composite licenses.

About the composition of the blocks, the Ministry stated, “These blocks comprise a diverse basket of minerals essential for sectors such as clean energy, advanced technologies, fertilizers and strategic industries.”

The auctions would follow a two-stage ascending auction process, wherein the highest bidder would be chosen based on the “highest percentage of value of mineral dispatched quoted”.

As on date, the Mines Ministry has successfully auctioned off 46 critical and strategic minerals across the six tranches of auctions.

Critical minerals are important for the country’s economic development and mineral security.

The global transition towards clean energy and advanced technologies has significantly increased the demand for minerals, including lithium, graphite, rare earth elements, tungsten, vanadium, titanium, and other rare metals.

Their limited availability and geographical concentration pose challenges to resilient supply chains worldwide.

“Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy, along with the Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey, will launch the 7th tranche of auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks on March 23,” the Ministry said.

In a separate statement, the Ministry said that it would organise the National District Mineral Foundation Summit 2026 on Monday (March 23) and Tuesday (March 24).

(with PTI inputs)