Amid rising geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and growing global competition for critical minerals, Vedanta Group has said India needs to accelerate domestic exploration and operationalise natural resource assets faster to reduce import dependence and strengthen long-term resource security.
In its media brief, the metals-to-oil conglomerate said vulnerabilities in global energy and mineral supply chains are “structural, not cyclical,” as India remains heavily dependent on imports for crude oil and several key resources. “The Strait of Hormuz has once again brought into focus a structural reality – how concentrated and fragile global energy supply chains remain,” the Vedanta media brief said.
“With nearly 88 per cent of its crude oil imported and a significant share routed through vulnerable corridors, even short-lived disruptions can cascade into price volatility, supply uncertainty and macroeconomic pressure.” The company said similar concentration risks are now emerging in critical minerals, which are essential for electrification, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. “What makes this moment more consequential is that the same pattern is now emerging beyond oil. Critical minerals, essential for electrification, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, are also concentrated across a handful of geographies,” the document stated.
The media brief comes at a time when global markets remain sensitive to developments in West Asia, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit route. Vedanta said India’s challenge was not resource scarcity alone, but the pace at which exploration and production capacities are being developed. “The country holds meaningful untapped potential across hydrocarbons and minerals. The gap lies in the speed of exploration, scale of investment, and ability to convert resources into production,” the company said in the document.
The company also called for faster operationalisation of mining assets and policy reforms to improve execution in the natural resources sector. “At a time when 50 per cent of India’s import bill is linked to natural resources, it is critical to operationalise assets faster,” Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal said in the media brief. He further said this would require “faster, technology-enabled land acquisition with direct benefit transfer”, “time-bound approvals with trust-based, self-certification frameworks”, and “commercially viable premiums to ensure sustainability of operations.”
According to the Vedanta, around 85 per cent of auctioned mining blocks in India remain non-operational, highlighting what it described as a significant execution gap. The group’s comments come shortly after Vedanta completed its demerger into five sector-focused entities effective May 1, covering aluminium, power, oil & gas, iron & steel, and Vedanta Ltd, which will house zinc, copper and critical minerals businesses.