Selective Strategic Autonomy in Critical Minerals and Devices

Viksit Bharat 2047 offers an opportunity to strengthen the materials and electronics capabilities underpinning India’s digital, industrial, space, and strategic ambitions. This paper develops a framework for selective strategic autonomy in critical materials and devices, combining domestic capability in priority segments with diversified international partnerships for inputs India cannot supply competitively. Thermoelectrics, the solid-state conversion of heat into electricity and of electricity into cooling, without moving parts, provides a deliberately bounded probe case. Its compact mine-to-module value chain allows mineral governance, technology access, manufacturing, finance, qualification, and recovery to be examined together. The paper presents three scenarios for 2047 and identifies strategic autonomy with managed interdependence as the most practical pathway. It proposes a next-stage agenda building on the NCMM, ISM, PLI schemes, iDEX, and Centres of Excellence through stage-specific finance, technology partnerships, selective module manufacturing, domestic qualification, and circular recovery. By-product recovery, mine waste, end-of-life devices, and segregated pharmaceutical waste are identified as feedstocks requiring pilot-scale validation. It also recommends an early mission-mode programme for high-temperature materials, module reliability, and qualification for strategic and space applications. Its contribution is a practical mine-to-module roadmap for converting India’s policy foundations and research strength into resilient capability in selected deep-tech segments.