India to invest in Canada's critical minerals sector, says Oil Minister Hardeep Puri

India is eager to invest in the mining of vital minerals within Canada and will dispatch a team shortly to negotiate mutual cooperation in the industry, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media following a meeting with visiting Canadian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson during India Energy Week, Puri mentioned both parties pledged to intensify two-way energy commerce, involving the provision of Canadian LNG, LPG, and raw petroleum to India, alongside the shipment of processed fuel products from India to Canada.

"Canada has critical minerals... they also have four small modular reactors (SMRs) -- areas we are interested in," Puri said.

Government-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) within his department belongs to a group seeking to acquire essential minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth components, which are crucial for producing electric vehicle (EV) cells, solar arrays, wind generators, and military hardware.

With China dominating the bulk of existing resources, centralized supply networks present significant geopolitical threats.

OIL Chairman and Managing Director Ranjit Rath said that a representative group will shortly travel to Canada to explore opportunities for funding the mining of these critical materials.

A collective statement released after the session between Puri and Hodgson stated that the two confirmed the vast significance of energy safety and supply variety.

"Canada has stated its goal of becoming an energy superpower in clean and conventional energy, with export diversification as a priority while India, as the epicentre of the global energy landscape, offers a natural and symbiotic partnership grounded in scale, stability, and long-term opportunity," it said.

Canada possesses existing and developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) ventures, is boosting output and shipments of raw oil to Asian markets and is progressing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales to Asia. India, as the world’s third biggest oil buyer, fourth largest LNG purchaser, third biggest LPG user, and holding the fourth largest processing volume, is forecast to stay at the heart of the worldwide energy scene, representing more than one-third of the rise in global energy requirements over the upcoming twenty years.

Puri also said Indian firms might seek a foothold in the intended LNG shipping hubs to assist in securing power resources.

"The ministers recognise the importance of joint commercial and investment partnerships in each other's energy sector. Canada is acting quickly to build energy projects and supply products to international markets, with Asia as a priority region," the joint statement said.