Vedanta Limited has commissioned India’s first high-tech, high-speed hydrostatic portable drilling rig equipped with advanced safety features, strengthening its technology-led mineral exploration capabilities. The rigs have been deployed at two of the company’s exploration projects in Chhattisgarh targeting gold and critical minerals including nickel, chromium and platinum group elements (PGE).

Designed for inaccessible and difficult terrain, the portable rig can drill to depths of up to 1,000 metres, compared with the typical 300–400 metre range. Its portability is expected to reduce time lost while shifting equipment between exploration locations, enabling faster, safer and less intrusive drilling operations.

The deployment forms part of Vedanta’s broader push into critical minerals. The company has secured 10 critical mineral blocks covering gold, manganese, copper, nickel-chromium-PGE, tungsten, graphite, vanadium, rare earth elements and potash. Exploration is currently underway across five blocks. Vedanta was also recently declared the successful bidder for the Punnam Manganese Block in Andhra Pradesh.

Government estimates indicate that nearly 80% of India’s mineral resources remain unexplored. Minerals such as copper and nickel are increasingly important for renewable energy, electric mobility, semiconductors, data centres, defence and advanced manufacturing, while gold continues to be used in electronics, medical applications and other strategic sectors.

According to the International Energy Agency, global demand for critical minerals used in clean-energy technologies could nearly triple by 2030 under its Net Zero Emissions Scenario and quadruple by 2040, reaching close to 40 million tonnes annually. This is driving countries to diversify critical mineral supply chains and reduce dependence on individual markets.

Under its Vedanta 2.0 strategy, the group is expanding its presence across critical minerals while strengthening technology adoption, sustainable mining and value-added processing. Vedanta Group currently has mineral assets across India, South Africa, Namibia, Liberia and Zambia, and plans to expand into additional geographies while developing mining partnerships aligned with global environmental, social and governance standards."