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On 12 August 2026 the Andhra Pradesh Department of Mines and Geology signed an MoU with CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute to explore lithium and gallium deposits in the Kadapa Basin.
The agreement was signed at the State Secretariat in Vijayawada in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Mines Minister Kollu Ravindra.
Exploration will focus on the Vempalle and Thummalapalle areas, where preliminary surveys indicated lithium up to 1,000 parts per million and gallium up to 250 ppm.
The Rs 140 crore project will be funded entirely by the National Mineral Exploration Trust, a statutory trust under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
A second MoU signed the same day with IIT (ISM) Dhanbad-TEXMiN will set up a Centre of Excellence for Mining in Andhra Pradesh.
To fund and expedite mineral exploration across India; it is bearing the full Rs 140 crore cost of this project
Key: A statutory trust created by notification of 14 August 2015 under Section 9C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
To identify minerals whose supply chains are strategically vulnerable but which are essential to clean energy, electronics and defence manufacturing
Key: Released in 2023 with 30 minerals, including both lithium and gallium, alongside cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earth elements, titanium and others
To build a resilient domestic value chain for critical minerals, from exploration and mining to processing and recycling
Key: Approved by the Union Cabinet with a total outlay of Rs 34,300 crore over seven years - Rs 16,300 crore of government expenditure plus about Rs 18,000 crore of expected investment by public sector undertakings
A constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, established in 1961, which carries out multidisciplinary earth-science and geophysical research; it conducted the preliminary surveys that indicated the deposits
Statutory trust under the MMDR Act, 1957 that finances mineral exploration; sole funder of this Rs 140 crore project
Partner in the second MoU, for mining-sector technology and skill development and the proposed Centre of Excellence for Mining in Andhra Pradesh
The Kadapa Basin is a large Proterozoic sedimentary basin in southern Andhra Pradesh, well known for mineral-bearing formations. Vempalle and Thummalapalle, the two exploration blocks, lie within it; Thummalapalle is already associated with uranium mineralisation. The MoUs were signed at the State Secretariat in Vijayawada, while the partner institute CSIR-NGRI is based in Hyderabad.
GS Paper III > Indian Economy - Mineral Resources; Science and Technology - Indigenisation of Technology
General Awareness > Geography, Minerals and Current Affairs
General Awareness > Science and Current Events
A mineral that is essential for economic development and national security and whose supply chain is vulnerable to disruption. India's 2023 list names 30 such minerals, including lithium and gallium.
A unit of concentration used in mineral exploration - 1,000 ppm equals 0.1% of the rock by mass.
A large depression in the earth's crust filled with sediments over geological time; the Kadapa Basin is one, and such basins often host mineral-bearing formations.