India doubles down on exploration, mining of rare earths

by IANS |

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of DAE, is carrying out exploration and augmentation of minerals of rare earth group elements along the coastal and inland placer sands as well as in hard rock terrains in several potential geological domains of the country, informed the government.

As on January 28, 2026 the rare earth minerals resources estimated by AMD include 136 deposits of Beach Sand Minerals containing 13.15 million tonnes (Mt) of monazite (a mineral of Thorium and Rare Earths) occurring in the coastal beach, teri/red sands and inland alluvium in parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

These deposits contain approximately 7.23 Mt in-situ Rare Earth Oxide (eq.) resources, said Minister of Coal and Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Also, three deposits of rare-earth minerals in hard rocks in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat containing 1.29 Mt in-situ Rare Earth Oxide (eq.) resources have been estimated.

According to the minister, the rare earth (RE) bearing ore, Monazite, is a prescribed substance due to its association with radioactive elements — uranium and thorium — and, therefore, mining, processing and refining is kept under government control.

India is one among three to four countries globally having capacity and capability in terms of Plant, technology and skilled work force in RE sector.

Indian resources are significantly lean with respect to grade and tied with radioactive elements making the extraction long, complex and expensive.

Further, Indian resource predominantly contain light rare earth elements.

While India has adequate rare-earth resources and capabilities for extraction and refining, commercial mining and processing of these minerals has been limited due to lack of adequate technology, absence of mid-stream and downstream industries in the REE value chain.

In November last year, the Union Cabinet has approved “Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnets” with a financial outlay of Rs. 7,280 crore to establish 6,000 Metric Tons per Annum (MTPA) of integrated Rare Earth Permanent Magnet (REPM) manufacturing in India.