India’s plan to develop rare earth corridors aimed at achieving ‘tech autonomy’: Analysts

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India’s plan to develop rare earth corridors is aimed at moving the nation towards “tech autonomy,” said analysts.

During its presentation of the annual budget to parliament, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the development of rare earth corridors along the country’s eastern coast, passing through Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states.

The corridors have been announced for “mining, processing, research and manufacturing” of rare earth permanent magnets (REPM), according to a statement by the government.

Federal Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said dedicated corridors will promote sustainable mining and manufacturing of rare earth elements.
“This aims to reduce dependence on imports,” he said.

REPMs are among the “strongest types of permanent magnets, known for their high magnetic strength and stability, and their “compact size and powerful performance make them indispensable for advanced engineering applications,” he added.

Even though India has a strong rare earth resource base, the government said domestic production of permanent magnets is still at a “developing stage,” with imports mainly from China meeting most of the demand (60%-80% by value and 85%-90% by quantity between 2022-25).

Sameer Patil, director at the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation, called the government's push to develop the rare earth corridors as “important” given the geopolitical context.

“Because we have seen how countries are building their domestic capabilities, as they want to wean away from the dependence on China,” he said.
“India is taking several steps to secure tech autonomy, under which it is also trying to create a domestic manufacturing ecosystem for high-tech products,” Patil added.
“These corridors align with that particular objective of also having some kind of autonomy in the rare earth sector. So in that sense, I think what the government has announced in the budget is really important,” he said.

Patil said announcements to develop the rare earth corridors “are important,” as “we have not really seen a determined push to explore those resources.”

“So the corridors will hopefully bring some kind of dynamic activity in terms of exploring those resources and also encourage the private sector to put in some efforts, both in terms of the financial as well as technological, to see whether they can also help in exploring these resources,” he said.

India possesses a substantial reserve of rare earth minerals, providing a strong foundation for downstream industries like REPM manufacturing, according to the government.

Details released by the government this week said the country holds 13.15 million tons of monazite containing an estimated 7.23 million tons of rare earth oxides.