Executive Summary
Post-pandemic geopolitical and economic trends offer a precious opportunity for India to emerge as a rare earths supplier for the world. This discussion document lays out a prioritisation framework and a strategy for India to do that. We recommend that the Government of India should:
Create a new Department for Rare Earths (DRE), which would play the role of a regulator and enabler for businesses in this space.
Allow private sector companies to participate in upstream and downstream processing of rare earth elements.
Offer Viability Gap Funding to businesses in upstream processing to help them set up operations.
Provide enabling infrastructure close to ports, implement Ease of Doing Business Measures, and create a whitelist of international suppliers for businesses in downstream processing.
Build a rare earths reserve along with partners such as the Quad as a geostrategic move to ensure India can compete in the manufacturing of high- tech products in the coming decades.