New mining projects of atomic minerals (such as uranium, thorium), critical minerals and strategic minerals (such as rare earth elements) being started in India will require no comments from the general public or public hearings. That is because these projects are related to “national defence, security needs and strategic considerations”, according to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
“The Ministry has decided that in accordance with the provisions of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), 2006 and keeping in view the requirement of national defence, security and strategic considerations, all mining projects involving atomic minerals notified in Part B of the First Schedule of the Minerals and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and critical and strategic minerals notified in Part D are exempted from public hearing,” the MoEFCC said in its new Office Memorandum (OM) dated September 8, 2025.
The Minerals and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 has fixed a new definition of atomic minerals and important and strategic minerals under the first schedule.
Part-B includes uranium and thorium-containing minerals such as monazite, pitchblende, rare earth minerals, phosphorite, ilmenite, rutile, zircon and sillimanite obtained from beach sand.
Twenty-four important minerals have been included in Part-D. These include lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, gallium, indium, molybdenum, niobium, rare earth (without uranium-thorium), tungsten, tantalum, titanium, vanadium, potash, phosphate, selenium, tellurium, rhenium and platinum group elements as well as minerals like beryllium, cadmium, tin and zirconium.
This amendment makes it clear that in view of future energy, defence and technology needs, India is placing these minerals in the category of ‘strategic resources’.
Regarding the exemption of public hearing, the MoEFCC argued that “An Office Memorandum (OM) dated March 13, 2025, was issued to consider all mining projects of critical and strategic minerals “out of turn” so that clearances can be given to these proposals quickly. This OM was issued because these critical and strategic minerals are essential for the progress of many sectors of the country, including high-tech electronics, telecommunications, transport and defence. They are also important for India to meet its commitment of ‘net zero’ by 2070.
In India, the EIA, 2006 law was made to strike a balance between development and environment. It determines how a project will affect the environment and local communities and what conditions must be followed before starting a project.
Under this law, large and national level projects (such as coal mines, big industries, big dams) etc. are placed in category A projects and their approval is given by the central government. On the other hand, relatively smaller projects are placed in category B, which are generally evaluated at the state level.
Under the EIA Act, any project has to go through processes like screening (deciding whether the project requires EIA or not), scoping (deciding on which points the environmental impact should be studied) and public hearing (taking the opinion of local people and stakeholders).
Public hearing is the most important part, in which the opinion of the people of the affected area is taken and it is mandatory to include the minutes (report) of the public hearing in the project proposal. However, projects related to national defence, security or strategically important projects are excluded from this scope.
Now, the MoEFCC has extended the same exemption to mining projects of atomic, critical and strategic minerals, saying these projects are linked to “national defence and security needs and strategic considerations”.
In its latest OM, the MoEFCC said the exemption has been granted following a request made recently by the Union Ministry of Defence and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
In the OM, the ministry has said it had received a proposal from the Union Ministry of Defense on August 4, 2025.
The proposal said the use of rare earth elements (REEs) is increasing rapidly in the defence sector. They are used in surveillance and navigation systems such as radar and sonar, communication and display devices such as laser and avionics, mounting systems in armored vehicles, precision guided ammunition and missile guidance technology.
The ministry also clarified that REEs are necessary for the manufacture of permanent magnets, which are considered the backbone of defence equipment. But the reserves of these minerals in India are very limited and they are produced in only a few countries of the world, which poses a big risk to the supply. In view of this challenge, the Union Ministry of Defence has demanded that mining projects related to important and strategic minerals should be considered as projects related to national security and they should be exempted from the process of public hearing during environmental clearance.
The DAE also sent a letter to the MoEFCC on August 29, 2025, that thorium obtained from beach sand mineral monazite is a potential fuel for the third phase of the nuclear power programme, while uranium mining is mandatory for the first phase.
The department emphasised that for this, rapid exploitation of new uranium and beach sand mineral deposits in the country is necessary. For this reason, the department has demanded that the mining projects of atomic minerals listed in Part-B of the First Schedule of the Minerals and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 should be exempted from public hearing under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of September 14, 2006, to make them operational soon.
However, the order also clarified that “these projects will be reviewed at the central level, irrespective of how large or small the mining lease area is.”
The OM issued stated that the EIA or EMP report of these mining projects will have to include details of impact on local settlements/population, social infrastructure (such as medical facilities, drinking water facilities), skill development and employment opportunities, public grievance redressal system etc. among other aspects. This will be done so that the concerned regional expert appraisal committee can comprehensively review the proposal and prepare an appropriate environmental management plan.
“The project proponent shall provide adequate financial and other resources to implement this plan, and these shall be incorporated in the environmental management plan,” the OM stated.