How will rare earth MoU with Brazil help India?, Pg11

Key Highlights:

• India and Brazil signed an MoU on rare earths and critical minerals on February 21, aiming to strengthen supply chains and competitiveness.
• The MoU covers the entire mineral value chain, including exploration, mining, processing, recycling, and refining.
• India's National Critical Mineral Mission, approved in January 2025, aims to build domestic capacity across the critical minerals value chain.
• India aims to begin domestic production of rare earth permanent magnets by the end of 2026 to reduce import dependence.

Detailed Insights:

• India is actively seeking overseas partnerships for minerals and processing to reduce dependence on any single country.
• The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act 2023 empowers the Centre to auction blocks for critical and strategic minerals.
• Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. is exploring overseas acquisitions and exploration arrangements in countries like Argentina and Chile.
• The MoU with Brazil enhances India's bargaining power and signals to companies that their inputs won't be disrupted by export controls or geopolitical shocks.
• Brazil possesses substantial reserves of rare earth-oxide equivalent, bauxite, manganese, and lithium, and the MoU could attract Indian capital into Brazilian projects.
• Pax Silica, a U.S.-led initiative joined by India, aims to secure supply chains for the "silicon stack," and the MoU could contribute to this goal by facilitating access to certain minerals.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Rare Earths: A set of seventeen metallic elements with similar chemical properties, crucial in various modern technologies.
• Critical Minerals: Minerals essential for modern technologies and economies, with supply chains vulnerable to disruption.
• Value Chain: The entire sequence of activities, from raw material extraction to end-product manufacturing and recycling.