Critical minerals: India has agreements with 8 countries, talks on with 2 more

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India is pulling out all the stops to enter agreements with countries are rich in rare earth minerals, critical for a diverse set of industries ranging from EVs to military drones, as China tightens control on super-strong magnets made from these metals.

While India already has some form of agreements in place with at least eight countries, talks are on with Brazil and the Dominican Republic, minister of state (independent charge) for the department of atomic energy Jitendra Singh has said.

"In the interest of developing bilateral cooperation with countries having rich mineral resources, the ministry of mines has entered into bilateral agreements with the governments of a number of countries such as Australia, Argentina, Zambia, Peru, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Cote D’Ivoire and international organizations such as International Energy Agency (IEA)," Singh said in a written reply to Parliament on July 23.

Also read: Rare earth crisis may see India push through new minerals bill in the monsoon session.

"Further, ministry of mines has initiated the process of entering into government-to-government (G2G) MoUs (memorandums of understanding) with Brazil and Dominican Republic for developing cooperation in the field of rare earth minerals and critical minerals," he said. The broad objectives of the MoUs is to provide an overarching framework for cooperation in research, development and innovation in mining, with a particular focus on rare earth elements (REE) and critical minerals.

Singh said the mine ministry is also engaging with platforms such as the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), India-UK Technology and Security Initiative (TSI), the Quad and the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) for strengthening the critical minerals value chain.

Rare earth minerals are a subset of critical minerals. India has approximately 7.23 million tonnes of rare earth elements oxide (REO), which are processed to make magnets used in strategic sectors such as defence, electronics, renewable energy, and clean mobility.

The country also has 13.15 MT monazite, which is a significant source of thorium used to generate nuclear power. Monazite, in India, has been found in the coastal beach, red sand and inland alluvium parts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The minister said another 1.29 MT rare earths are situated in hard rocks in parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

"Additionally, Geological Survey of India (GSI) has augmented 482.6 Mt resources of REE (rare earth elements) ore at various cut-off grades in 34 exploration projects," the government said.

China accounts for 90 percent of the supply of rare earths, a Reuters report said. Earlier this year, China tightened export of these magnets, a move to counter US-led trade pressure. Its dominance in rare-earth magnets has created supply chain concerns for India's automotive and electronics industries, which on several occasions have sought the government’s intervention.