India, Australia, Japan and the United States or the "Quad partners”, has set an ambitious target of mobilising up to $20 billion in government and private sector support to build secure critical minerals supply chains to reduce dependence on dominant suppliers and strengthen regional industrial resilience.
The initiative was announced under the newly launched Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, which aims to secure access to minerals critical for electric vehicles, semiconductors, batteries, renewable energy systems and defence manufacturing amid intensifying geopolitical competition. The Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United States of America, met in New Delhi on 26 May 2026 for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting hosted by India.
The framework aims to support strategic critical minerals projects through export credit agencies, development finance institutions, mobilization of private capital, or other public support tools, such as guarantees, loans, equity participation, insurance, subsidies, and offtake or other commercial arrangements, according to the statement issued by the Government of India. The statement also highlighted that the framework will explore new mechanisms to help mobilise private capital and strengthen critical minerals supply chains in Quad partner countries and regionally.
The framework envisages coordinated investment across mining, processing and recycling of critical minerals, with the four countries seeking to create diversified and “fair” supply chains that can reduce vulnerabilities linked to concentrated global supply networks.
According to the framework document, the Quad partners intend to identify and support projects with a “Quad nexus” — including projects located in member countries, operated by companies headquartered in Quad nations, or supplying Quad markets.
The framework was planned as a response to China’s stringent measure announced in October 2025 of suspending several export controls on critical minerals and rare earth elements for one year, valid until November 2026. This announcement disrupted the critical mineral supply chain and since then, India has been looking for alternatives to diversify its critical mineral sources. While China later relaxed some of its restriction measures on critical mineral exports, some countries remain vulnerable to supply disruptions because of a lack of non-Chinese processing alternatives.
Beyond mining and extraction, the Quad framework also focuses on recycling and recovery of minerals from e-waste and industrial scrap to strengthen long-term supply sustainability.
