India and Russia will jointly make a new rare earth strategy, this could create a trade crisis for China.

A new dispute seems to be brewing between India and neighboring China. China has introduced further controls on the supply of rare earth metals and permanent magnets. India imports about 65 percent of its rare earth metal requirements from China. As a result, India’s dependence on China is quite high. Meanwhile, some positive news has emerged: Indian companies have started to explore possibilities in Russia to solve this problem. According to the report, preliminary talks are underway between India and Russia. The central government wants to move quickly towards independence. Therefore, alternatives to foreign imports are being explored. In the financial year 2023-24, India imported about 2,270 tonnes of rare earth metals from abroad. Which company will negotiate with Russia? The central government chose Lohum and the Midwest for talks with Russia. Both companies will work closely with Russian mineral companies to explore new opportunities for India. According to media reports, the Government of India has instructed the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian School of Mines (Dhanbad) and Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (Bhubaneswar) to understand the technologies of Russian companies and collect information on the entire processing process. Both Russian state-owned companies, Nornickel and Rosatom, may be eligible for this partnership. India and Russia could become new players China currently controls about 90 percent of the global market for rare earth processing. This means that China exports rare earths to almost the entire world. According to media reports, Russia has done extensive work on rare earth processing technology over the past few years. Russia plans to work with India to commercialize these technologies. If this materializes, India and Russia will become two new names in the world of rare earth processing. This will not only reduce dependence on China but will also open up new export opportunities. Recently, the Government of India also discussed the launch of a new scheme of ₹ 7,350 crore for the production of rare earth permanent magnet (REPM). Its primary objective is to increase rare earth production in India and reduce dependence on foreign imports. Share this story Tags