Vedanta Limited has commissioned India’s first high-speed hydrostatic portable drilling rig, strengthening its technology-led approach to mineral exploration. The advanced rig has been deployed at two of the company’s exploration projects in Chhattisgarh focused on gold and critical minerals, including nickel, chromium and platinum group elements.
Designed for difficult and inaccessible terrain, the portable rig can undertake high-speed drilling to depths of up to 1,000 metres. Conventional exploration rigs typically operate within a range of 300–400 metres. Its mobility also reduces the time required to move equipment between locations, helping accelerate exploration activity.
The deployment is expected to improve the speed, safety and efficiency of mineral exploration while reducing the impact of exploration activities on difficult terrain. The technology will support Vedanta’s efforts to access mineral deposits that require deeper drilling and specialised exploration capabilities.
Critical minerals have become increasingly important as demand rises from renewable energy, electric vehicles, defence, semiconductors, artificial intelligence infrastructure and advanced manufacturing. Gold also has applications in high-reliability electronics, healthcare and other strategic industries.
Vedanta has secured 10 critical mineral blocks covering resources such as gold, manganese, copper, nickel-chromium-PGE, tungsten, graphite, vanadium, rare earth elements and potash. Exploration activities are already underway across five of these blocks. The company was also recently declared the successful bidder for the Punnam Manganese Block in Andhra Pradesh.
The company said the deployment of the new rig forms part of its broader focus on using technology to strengthen India’s mineral exploration capabilities and reduce dependence on imported resources. Government estimates indicate that a large share of India’s mineral potential remains unexplored. Developing this resource base will require advanced exploration methods, deeper geological understanding and greater domestic capabilities across the mining value chain.
Global demand for critical minerals is also expected to rise sharply. The International Energy Agency has projected that demand for critical minerals used in clean energy technologies could nearly triple by 2030 under its Net Zero Emissions Scenario and increase further by 2040.
Vedanta is expanding its presence across the critical minerals value chain as part of its wider transformation strategy. The group has mineral assets and operations across India and several international markets, including South Africa, Namibia, Liberia and Zambia.
With advanced exploration technologies, diversified mineral assets and downstream processing capabilities, Vedanta aims to contribute to India’s efforts to develop secure and reliable supplies of critical minerals while supporting the country’s long-term industrial and energy transition goals.
