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India launches specialised rare earth corridors in mineral-rich regions
New initiative targets mining, processing and advanced manufacturing across key coastal states
India has announced a major strategic initiative to strengthen its control over critical minerals by developing specialised rare earth corridors in mineral-rich regions, as reported by IANS, a partner of TV BRICS.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will support the creation of integrated rare earth hubs in the states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. These corridors are designed to cover the full value chain – from extraction and processing to research, innovation and high-end manufacturing.
The move represents a significant step in India’s efforts to build domestic capacity in rare earth elements, which are essential for electronics, renewable energy technologies, electric mobility and advanced manufacturing.
The corridor initiative builds on a national programme approved in late 2025 to develop domestic production of rare earth permanent magnets. The programme aims to establish an integrated manufacturing capacity of 6,000 tonnes per year, reinforcing India’s ambition to become a competitive global player in this strategically sensitive sector.
The selected states are home to substantial deposits of monazite and other beach sand minerals, particularly along India’s eastern and southern coastlines. These deposits contain high concentrations of rare earth elements, making them central to the country’s long-term mineral strategy.
The initiative aligns with broader policy goals under India’s critical minerals framework and recent reforms aimed at modernising the mining sector, improving transparency and accelerating project execution.
Other BRICS countries are actively engaged in the extraction and export of rare earth elements, as well as the manufacture of products from these raw materials. For example, Anton Alikhanov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, said that last year a germanium extraction plant began operating in Primorsky Krai. The project meets domestic demand for this raw material, which is necessary for the production of optics, microelectronic chips and solar panels. At the same time, with sufficient state support, there are plans to create 15 new large-scale production facilities and modernise existing ones for 65 critically important products made from rare and rare-earth metals, according to the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
In Brazil, the head of the General Secretariat of the Presidential Administration, Guilherme Boulos, during an event attended by business representatives, noted the importance not only of developing deposits of critically important rare earth elements, but also of processing them in the country to create added value. According to him, Brazil has the second largest reserves of rare earth metals in the world. For example, the country has one of the largest deposits of quartz, which is exported in its raw form, whereas after processing and obtaining elements for use in the solar and electronics industries, it is 20 times more expensive. The information was published by Metrópoles, a partner of TV BRICS.
In China, experts have assessed the authorities' decision to tighten controls on rare earth metal exports, noting that this step is intended to influence the sustainable development of this sector. At the same time, Beijing is speeding up the review of applications for export licences related to rare earth elements to ensure the stability and security of global industrial chains and supplies, according to China Daily, a partner of TV BRICS.
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