On the sidelines of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) 2026, Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy held a meeting with the leadership team of BHP Group Limited, one of the world's largest mining multinationals, getting a detailed briefing on the company's operations across Australia and its broader footprint in the global mining and resources sector.

BHP at the table — and why it matters for India's minerals push

BHP Group Limited is an Australian multinational with major producing assets in iron ore, copper, coal and potash — several of which sit squarely in India's critical minerals import basket. The meeting at IMARC 2026 follows a well-established pattern: India's Mines Ministry has increasingly used global industry forums to engage directly with resource majors, shortcutting the slow pace of formal diplomatic channels when it needs to move fast on supply security.

The engagement also carries a clear bilateral signal. India and Australia signed their Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) in April 2022, with dedicated provisions for resources and mining sector cooperation. That framework has since served as the legal scaffolding for deeper ties — and meetings like this one are how those provisions get turned into real commercial conversations.

India's critical minerals hunt — and Australia's starring role

India has been systematically building alternative supply chains for lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements — materials essential for electric vehicles, defence electronics and clean energy infrastructure. Australia, which holds some of the world's largest reserves of these minerals, has emerged as a preferred partner, partly because of shared Quad membership and partly because of the ECTA's competitive tariff structure.

India's National Mineral Policy 2019 opened the door to foreign direct investment in exploration and mining of critical minerals, a reform that Australian companies — including BHP — have tracked closely. Reddy's ministry has since pushed further legislative amendments to accelerate exploration licensing, making the diplomatic groundwork at events like IMARC directly convertible into investment pipelines.

IMARC as India's mining diplomacy runway

IMARC, held annually in Australia, draws together government ministers, mining executives and investors from across the globe. For India's Mines Ministry, it has become a key venue for sideline diplomacy — a chance to meet multiple global majors in a compressed window without the formality of state visits. Reddy's engagement with BHP joins a wider set of conversations the ministry is running at the conference, with tags to MEA India, the Consulate General of India in Sydney, and the High Commission of India in Canberra signalling coordinated diplomatic cover for the meeting.

The question now is whether the briefing translates into a formal investment commitment or an MoU — the kind of deliverable that turns a sideline conversation into a headline back home.