Robust Rare-Earth Ecosystem Is Defence Imperative For Strategic Autonomy

High-performance rare-earth permanent magnets are central to defence production. This is evident from the predominance of rare earth elements in China's geopolitical leverage. But India, despite its rich material resources, faced formidable challenges in developing a robust rare-earth magnet ecosystem.

India’s REEs are primarily found in monazite, bastnaesite, and allanite deposits.

Availability Of Critical Minerals

Monazite, for instance, is available abundantly in coastal beach sands, with the national resource abundance estimated at about 11 million tonnes. Of this, Andhra Pradesh comprises 3.69 million tonnes, Odisha has 3.06 million tonnes, and Tamil Nadu contains 2.46 million tonnes, while the availability of monazite deposits in Kerala stands at 1.84 million tonnes.

Although Kerala is endowed with the least quantity of Monazite, it has accumulated substantial amounts of monazite residue at its Chavara heavy mineral sands separation plant, as part of an initiative, which is unmatched by any other State, for the extraction of rare earth elements. Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited (KMML), through its heavy mineral sands separation plant at Chavara, has begun extracting these elements.

Bastnaesite and allanite are primarily concentrated in the mountain rocks of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Gujarat.   

Meanwhile, Dysprosium and Terbium are present only in limited concentrations, creating critical supply gaps that necessitate India's dependence on imports. These two elements are widely available in countries such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nigeria, Brazil, Chile, Peru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Australia. This reflects the pressing need for strategic international collaboration.

The extraction and separation process (of these minerals) is complex.

The distinction is clear: India has the mineral resources, but not the end-to-end process expertise in rare-earth magnet manufacturing, a technologically complex activity involving advanced metallurgy, chemical processing, precision powder engineering, magnetic grain alignment, sintering, grain-boundary diffusion, and specialised finishing. Mastery across this entire value chain is essential, but it remains underdeveloped.

This entails the need for dedicated, large-scale plants and robust equipment, the research and facilities for which remain limited.

Indian Rare Earth Limited

At present, the only facility specifically catering to defence requirements is a linked capacity unit operated by Indian Rare Earth Limited (IREL) in Visakhapatnam, with an annual capacity of 3,000 kilograms. This output is below the pilot scale and insufficient to meet strategic needs, let alone support broader industrial or defence expansion.

Consequently, India imports its entire requirement of rare earth magnets (estimated at around 25,000 tonnes annually), of which experts assess that defence-related demand is about 2,000 tonnes per annum.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Model

Since these materials are highly strategic and subject to geopolitical dynamics, it is very challenging for the private sector to secure them, given its limited experience, reach and influence. Hence, it is essential that a public-private partnership (PPP) model, led by the Ministry of Defence, secures India’s defence interests and meets national security objectives.  

A facility with a capacity of 1,000-2,000 tonnes per annum would enable the optimisation of capital and operational costs, the deployment of best-in-class components and systems, and a significant enhancement in productivity. The envisaged production chain would span the full spectrum — from oxides to metals, metals to master alloys, alloys to powders, powders to nano-materials, and finally to sintered, machined, coated, magnetised, and finished magnets.

A Strategic Asset

In an era of intensifying geopolitical competition and supply-chain weaponisation, rare earth magnets are no longer merely industrial inputs; they are strategic assets. India’s ability to secure, process, and manufacture them domestically will determine not only the strength of its defence capabilities, but also the credibility of its broader strategic autonomy and national security parameters.

These magnets power a vast array of military applications. They are integral to missile guidance and control systems, jet and turbine engines in aircraft and missiles, actuators in precision-guided munitions, armoured vehicles, and propulsion systems in satellites. They enable radar and sonar systems, laser rangefinders, target designators, laser communication systems, and directed-energy weapons.

In space systems, they support propulsion, control mechanisms, and radiation shielding, particularly through the use of gadolinium.

Non-Magnetic Defence Technologies

Rare earth elements also underpin several non-magnetic defence technologies. Elements such as lanthanum, europium, terbium, and yttrium are essential for sensors and for the manufacturing of surveillance equipment, including night-vision goggles, infrared and low-light imaging systems, and satellite-based observation platforms.

They are equally critical in electronic warfare and communications, supporting high-frequency transmission, electronic countermeasures, and advanced radar systems, including active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. 

India would do well to revisit the IDPL experiment, which laid the foundations of the domestic pharmaceutical industry by building a technological base through R&D, technology transfer, nurturing skilled human capital, and creating infrastructure that later spilt over into the private sector. In its formative years, IDPL served as a training ground for many founders of successful firms, including Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.  

It is time India conducts a similar experiment for REEs by designating a foundational institution to undertake pioneering work, keeping in view the national security imperative.

(The writer is a former Ambassador. He is also an economist and author of 'Energy Security and Economic Development in India: A Holistic Approach', which was published by TERI.)