Baryte Exports-India’s Win Over China Could Extract A Heavy Cost In Future

With all the talk of critical mineral exploration and more to build self sufficiency and strategic security, a curious anomaly stands out in India. Its exports of Baryte reserves. The mineral, a critical component of material used for stabilising high pressure oil and gas wells with no viable substitutes available at scale, has been subjected to export and extraction curbs by other countries well before China started using its rare earths monopoly to apply a trade squeeze. Thanks to restrictions that started in 2016 in China, and other countries subsequently, India has been the leading global exporter of this mineral since 2018.

95% of India’s Baryte reserves come from a single mine in Andhra Pradesh, the Mangampet Mine, besides some in the Andamans, making tracking and control that much easier. In fact, the Centre for Domestic Economy Policy Research (C-DEP.in) released a landmark report today warning that India is on the verge of exhausting its only major baryte reserve, placing the country’s long-term energy security at risk. With domestic extraction continuing at high levels, India is now the only major economy in the world with less than 10 years of accessible baryte reserves left according to C-DEP.in.

Reserves at Mangampet have fallen from 49 million tonnes in 2015 to under 23 million tonnes in 2024, a 53% fall within a decade. This decline has been driven by unsustainable exports without parallel efforts to build a strategic reserve for India’s long-term energy and domestic requirements, claims the report.

The report, titled “Analysis of the Impact of Rapid Depletion of Baryte Reserves on Energy Security,” was released at IIT Delhi by Shri Praveen Prakash IAS (retd.), former Managing Director of the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), the state-owned PSU responsible for managing the Mangampet reserve.

Keep in mind that with a 90% dependence on imported crude oil, India is trying to revive a disappointing exploration  record with a liberal policy, that will create strong domestic demand soon for Baryte if all goes to plan.  The report states that India has an estimated 22 billion barrels of oil equivalent yet to be explored across the Andaman, Krishna–Godavari and Mahanadi basins, C-DEP estimates that unlocking this potential would require over 600 million tonnes of baryte, far exceeding the reserves left at Mangampet.

Given these developments, the report calls for calibrated export restrictions, a fiscal transition plan for APMDC’s bond obligations, revision of export allocation policies and inclusion of baryte in the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM). The study contributes to India’s ongoing discussions on mineral security, strategic reserves and strengthening domestic capacity for future oil and gas exploration.

So why is India doing what seems to be a contrarian action despite everything? China restricted exports and paused extraction to conserve its reserves in 2016. The US, Turkey, Iran and Russia have all imposed various levels of restrictions on exports or extraction to conserve reserves.

At the current rate of extraction, India could exhaust reserves in less than a decade, leaving its own exploration efforts in limbo, depending on foreign imports to save the day.

Why Is India Doing It?

Fiscal Dependence & Debt Obligations

APMDC has raised nearly ₹10,000 crore in bonds backed by baryte revenues. To service these obligations, it must maintain export flows — otherwise bond repayment and state finances could be jeopardized.

Global Market Position

India became the world’s largest exporter of baryte after China restricted exports in 2016. So could this be an ego trip to showcase the world no. 1 rank at the expense of long term troubloe? We certainly hope not.

Jobs And US Pressure

And then of course there is the real impact of jobs that will be impacted, and the intangible impact of US pressure, as the largest recipient of India’s Baryte exports.

  Reporting by Yash Singh