India's first mineral exchange may be operationalised by next fiscal: Official

New Delhi: India's first mineral exchange, which would create a transparent, electronic delivery-based trading platform for minerals, is likely to be registered and operationalised by the next financial year, according to a top government official.

This comes after the mines ministry's notification of the Mineral Exchange Rules, 2026 in June.

The exchange would create a transparent, electronic delivery-based trading platform for minerals, facilitate market-based price discovery and reduce information asymmetry between producers and buyers.


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"We expect to register and operationalise the first Mineral Exchange by the next financial year. Work on the registration of the exchange is currently under way," Mines Additional Secretary Veena Kumari Dermal said during 60th Annual General Meeting of Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI).

The ministry notified the Mineral Exchange Rules in June to create a state-of-the-art platform with transparent price discovery and standardised quality assessment, she said.

The exchange will also feature risk-management mechanisms to prevent market manipulation and protect participants, Dermal said, adding that it would provide producers and buyers with a reliable and globally competitive marketplace for minerals.

She further said that ​minerals form the backbone of the infrastructure, manufacturing, and national energy security.

As the country advances towards the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, India's primary objective is to build a self-reliant economy. The gravity of this task is underscored by the country's import figure. In financial year 2025-26 alone, India imported minerals valued at Rs 10,12,000 crore.

To reduce this heavy burden on the national exchequer, the industry has to expand, increase the domestic capacity, increase the production, and optimise its local resources.

In the last decade, the mining sector has seen exceptional growth. The value of mineral production in 2013-14 was Rs 49,900-50,000 crore and it grew to Rs 1.86 lakh crore in 2025-26, showing a cumulative annual growth rate of 11.6 per cent.

And this growth is driven by the policy reforms taken up by Ministry of Mines, she added.

The production of iron ore also increased from 152 million tonne in 2013-14 to 312 million tonne last year. The limestone production increased from 280 MT to 483 MT and bauxite from 22 MT to 26 MT.

"We are seeing the increase in mineral production, but that is not sufficient to meet the aspiration of the country," she explained.