Consider the following statements: I. India has joined the Minerals Security Partnership as a member. II. India is a resource-rich country in all the 30 critical minerals that it has identified. III. The Parliament in 2023 has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 empowering the Central Government to exclusively auction mining lease and composite license for certain critical minerals. Which of the statements given above are correct?
Explanation:
Statement I: India officially joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) in 2023, which is a US-led initiative to secure critical mineral supply chains. So, Statement I is correct. Statement II: While India has identified 30 critical minerals, it is not resource-rich in all of them. India is significantly dependent on imports for many of these critical minerals. So, Statement II is incorrect. Statement III: The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023, was indeed enacted to empower the Central Government to exclusively auction mining leases and composite licenses for a list of critical minerals, streamlining their exploration and extraction. So, Statement III is correct. Therefore, statements I and III are correct.