Nalco Eyes Entry into Rare Earths, Magnesium and Chromite Amid Critical Minerals Push

State-owned National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) is exploring a foray into rare earth elements, magnesium, and chromite as part of a broader push to diversify into critical minerals. The move aligns with India’s strategic focus on securing key resources essential for clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and defence applications.

Nalco is understood to be assessing opportunities across the value chain, including exploration, mining, and potential downstream processing, to build capabilities in these strategic materials. Rare earths are vital for electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, electronics, and defence technologies, while magnesium and chromite play important roles in aerospace, alloys, refractories, and stainless steel production.

The diversification plan reflects Nalco’s intent to reduce reliance on a single commodity and position itself in minerals with strong long-term demand prospects. Industry observers note that public sector participation could help accelerate domestic availability of critical minerals and support India’s supply chain resilience.

While the initiatives are at an early stage, Nalco’s interest signals growing momentum among Indian miners to enter the critical minerals space as policy support and global demand continue to rise.