Critical Minerals and India's Supply Chain Vulnerability
Critical minerals are defined as those with high economic importance and high supply concentration risk. For India, 30 minerals have been designated as critical (Ministry of Mines, 2023). Rare earth elements rank among the highest-priority given that China controls the vast majority of global processing capacity — even when ore is mined elsewhere, it typically travels to China for separation and refining. This concentration creates a single point of failure in supply chains for EVs, defence electronics, wind turbines, and consumer electronics. India's current rare earth situation: it mines monazite through IREL (India) Limited and produces mixed rare earth chloride, but lacks the downstream separation and magnet manufacturing capacity to compete globally.
- India's imports of rare earth compounds and products: worth hundreds of crores annually, primarily from China.
- IREL (India) Limited: Central PSU under Department of Atomic Energy; the only significant REE processor in India currently.
- Monazite is a controlled mineral in India under the Atomic Minerals Concession Rules, 2016 due to its thorium content.
- The Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 opened previously reserved minerals (including REEs) for commercial mining by the private sector.
- Strategic importance of REEs for defence: used in radar systems, sonar transducers, jet engines, precision-guided munitions, and night-vision equipment.
● Tracked since February 01, 2026 · last seen June 25, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes