Abstract
The global transition toward renewable energy systems represent a profound transformation in the structure of the international political economy. Unlike earlier energy regimes centered on fossil fuels, the emerging clean energy order is heavily dependent on critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements and graphite. These minerals are indispensable for technologies including electric vehicles, battery storage systems, solar panels and wind turbines. As a result, control over critical mineral supply chains has become a defining feature of contemporary geopolitical competition.
For India, this transition presents a complex strategic dilemma. While renewable energy offers the promise of reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and enhancing energy security, it simultaneously creates new forms of vulnerability due to reliance on global mineral supply chains that are highly concentrated and geopolitically sensitive. This paradox challenges traditional understandings of strategic autonomy, which have historically emphasied political independence and self-reliance.
This article examines India’s position within the evolving global critical mineral ecosystem and argues that strategic autonomy in the 21st century must be reconceptualied as the capacity to manage interdependence through control over supply chains, technological capabilities and institutional strength. Drawing on theoretical perspectives such as dependency theory, geoeconomics and realism, the study highlights India’s structural vulnerabilities and evaluates its policy responses.
The article further proposes a multi-dimensional strategy that includes diversification of supply sources, development of domestic processing industries, investment in technological innovation and participation in global governance frameworks. It concludes that India’s ability to navigate the emerging energy order will depend on its success in integrating economic, technological and geopolitical strategies into a coherent framework aimed at enhancing resilience and strategic leverage
Keywords: Critical Minerals, Strategic Autonomy, Energy Geopolitics, Critical Mineral Supply Chains, India, Geoeconomics
