‘Country monopolies are as dangerous as corporate ones’: Niti Aayog’s Arvind Virmani on China’s grip over critical minerals

Virmani warns against China’s 90% control of critical minerals, urges global competition

India’s policymakers are sounding the alarm on a less-talked-about monopoly, countries, not companies, cornering supply chains.

Niti Aayog member Arvind Virmani on Thursday cautioned that the world has become overly dependent on one country for critical minerals, with China controlling 80–90 percent of global supply.

“(Critical) Minerals are dispersed all over the world. But the metal supply, 80 to 90 per cent is controlled by one country. We would call that a monopoly,” Virmani told ANI on the sidelines of the India Mining Summit 2025 in New Delhi.

How China came to dominate rare earths

China today is the world’s largest producer of critical minerals, including rare earth elements that are essential for electronics, EV batteries, and defence equipment. Its dominance has turned into a global concern, especially after Beijing restricted exports of certain critical minerals.

Virmani pointed out that monopolies are no longer just about corporations. “People have got used to thinking of monopoly as a company monopoly. In this new world, country monopolies and even regional monopolies are as important,” he told ANI.

He added that the shift happened quietly over the last 25 years. “From having a 10 per cent share, one country goes to 90 per cent, and nobody was noticing this. The whole world was sleeping,” he said.

India’s push: National Critical Mineral Mission

To avoid being caught in the supply squeeze, India launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) in January 2025. The mission aims to expand exploration, boost domestic processing, and scale up recycling of critical minerals, reducing the country’s import dependency.

“I think India is also working on these things. They’re important for all of us,” Virmani noted, adding that the problem is global, not just India’s.

But the bigger challenge, he stressed, is technology. “Basically, the entire supply chain, including technology, has become concentrated. Now the whole world is scrambling to create new technologies,” he said.

Partnerships beyond borders

India isn’t going solo. Virmani said collaborations with countries like Peru and several African nations are already underway, given their untapped mineral potential.

Asked about Taiwan’s interest in sourcing India’s rare earths, he was blunt: “We are not a big mineral power as such, except in a few like iron ore and so on.”

However, he acknowledged India’s long-known reserves of monazite sands in Kerala and along the eastern coastline, a key source for titanium. “With this renewed emphasis on rare earths, greater technological investigation and economic evaluation will happen,” he told ANI.