rare earth elements
The demand for rare earth elements is continuously increasing around the world, especially in the manufacturing of electric vehicles, wind turbines and high-tech equipment. In such a situation, China’s increasing interference in the supply of these minerals has increased the world’s concern. China recently imposed strict restrictions on the export of rare earth magnets, which has dealt a deep blow to the global supply chain. In view of this situation, the Indian Government is now going to take a big step.
According to the report of Economic Times, the Government of India is preparing to launch a new scheme called ‘National Critical Mineral Stockpile’ (NCMS). Its objective is to provide safe and adequate storage of rare earth elements for the country, so that any future supply crisis can be dealt with.
What is National Critical Mineral Reserve (NCMS)?
NCMS will be a dedicated government programme, in which stockpile of rare earth elements will be created initially for two months. The special thing in this is that the government will also encourage the participation of private companies in this. That is, this will not only be a government scheme, but the industry will also play an important role in it.
According to a senior government official, currently its focus is on rare earth elements, but in future it will be expanded to other important minerals also. This step is considered very important from the strategic and economic security of the country.
Why are rare earths so important?
Rare earth elements contain a total of 17 elements which have special magnetic and electrical properties. These are very important for high-tech industry. The most important among these are rare earth magnets, which are used in electric vehicles, mobile phones, military equipment and solar panels. Mineral sources of these elements are present in India, but till now the technology to extract and purify them is quite limited. For this reason India is still mostly dependent on China for supplies.
Plan to promote domestic production
According to an ET report, along with this new scheme, the government is already working on an incentive scheme to promote the production of rare earth magnets domestically. Under this, the government has approved a scheme of Rs 7,300 crore, due to which a domestic production target of 6000 tonnes of rare earth magnets has been set in the next five years. Apart from this, a separate provision of Rs 500 crore has been made so that any kind of supply disruption can be avoided and the essential minerals can be made available to the country’s industries on time.
Where are the rare earth reserves in India?
India has good mineral resources of rare earth elements. It is estimated that about 72.3 lakh tonnes of rare earth oxide and 131.5 lakh tonnes of monazite are present in the country. These minerals are mainly found in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Maharashtra.