The Centre has approved an amendment to a key law in order to specify competitive royalty rates for the mining of three strategically significant minerals — lithium, niobium, and rare earth elements (REEs). The decision comes after the government removed six minerals, including lithium and niobium, from the list of ‘specified’ atomic minerals, which could set the stage for participation of the private sector through the auctioning concessions for these minerals. These changes to the rules build on an earlier move to ease the issuing of mining leases and composite licences for 24 critical and strategic minerals, which are vital…