By Neha Arora and Sethuraman N R
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Hindustan Zinc, India’s top refined zinc producer, will aim to expand into uranium mining if the government opens up the sector to private players, its chief executive Arun Misra told Reuters on Tuesday.
Government sources told Reuters last week that India wants to allow private firms to mine, import and process uranium as part of plans to end a decades-old state monopoly over the nuclear sector and bring in billions of dollars in investment.
“If new uranium blocks are put out for private companies, Hindustan Zinc will be the first to bid,” Misra said in an interview.
“We will get into atomic minerals and especially uranium because the country needs it.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to expand nuclear power production capacity 12-fold by 2047. The state has historically maintained tight control over the sector due to concerns about safety, strategic security and the potential misuse of nuclear materials.
Hindustan Zinc is, meanwhile, also looking to begin mining rare earth minerals in India, having won its first such block in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh earlier this year.
It has floated global tenders for companies to explore the potential of the block, where it expects to start extracting neodymium – a rare earth used in magnets for motors and generators – in five to six years, Misra said.
Among other critical minerals, Hindustan Zinc is interested in mining lithium, antimony, germanium, copper, and graphite and is seeking the assistance of firms from Australia, South Africa, Peru, Chile, as well as China for exploration, he said.
China, which controls the bulk of global rare earth mining, suspended exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets in April, upending critical supply chains for automakers, aerospace manufacturers, and semiconductor companies.
Beijing has promised to address New Delhi’s rare earth needs, however, a top Indian official and a source said on Tuesday, as the neighbours rebuild ties damaged by a 2020 border clash.
Misra said Hindustan Zinc will, meanwhile, ramp up its traditional zinc business, doubling its production capacity to 2 million metric tons by 2029.
(Reporting by Neha Arora and Sethuraman NR; Editing by Joe Bavier)
