Oil India-Hindustan Copper ink MoU for exploration of critical minerals

Advancing further with their foray into the critical minerals sector, state-owned explorer Oil India (OIL) and miner Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) signed an MoU on Friday (September 19, 2025) to collaborate for exploration and development of critical and strategic minerals, including copper and other associated minerals.

In a joint statement, the two State-owned companies said the partnership would “play a pivotal role in securing strategic mineral resources essential for the nation’s energy security, industrial growth and technological advancement.  

The State-run explorer has already diversified into the sector after having secured a graphite and vanadium block in Arunachal Pradesh in November last year, under tranche-IV of the auction for critical and strategic mineral blocks, and a potash and halite block in Rajasthan during tranche-V this year.  

In August this year, Oil India had also inked an MoU with IREL (India) Ltd for the development of critical minerals. The PSU was also identified among those expected to invest as part of the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM), alongside Coal India, NTPC Mining, Steel Authority of India and ONGC Videsh, among others.  

The central government National Critical Minerals Mission was launched in January this year, for a period of seven years until 2030-31, as part of its quest to explore and secure critical minerals to drive energy security, industrial growth and institute technological independence.

It has emerged as a policy imperative for New Delhi, considering the global headwinds emanating from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff regime and China’s retaliatory actions blocking the export of critical minerals.  

Imperative to note, the Paris-headquartered International Energy Agency (IEA) in their Global Critical Minerals Outlook (2025) had mentioned about India possessing “major untapped resource potential”.