India is looking forward to commencing the production of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs) in the country in alliance with private sector players in the third quarter of FY26, Federal Mining Minister G. Kishan Reddy announced on Thursday.
"In this year itself, permanent magnets production will begin in India," Reddy said in his address at the Indian Critical Minerals Landscape: Foundation for a Sustainable & Self-Reliant Future conference.
Reddy highlighted that India fulfills 95% of its critical minerals through imports, before emphasising that a few countries had monopolised their value chains.
"Be it solar panels, electrical vehicles, defence sector, health sector, agriculture sector, aerospace sector, electronics sector, medical imaging sector, nuclear energy sector, solar sector, the foundation of all these is critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements. The availability of critical minerals like copper is a big challenge for us today. Not only India, but the entire world is dependent on these critical minerals today," Reddy noted.
"For the development of India, we will have to accept this challenge. The value chain of the world's critical minerals is highly concentrated in some countries. Some countries have taken over them. Some countries have monopolised them. We will have to work together on such critical minerals, on such critical topics, at such critical times," the minister added.
Earlier, the Government of India announced the establishment of Rare Earth Corridors in the states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
These corridors would be dedicated to mining, processing, research, and manufacturing of REPMs.
Before that, New Delhi sanctioned a $802 million REPMs manufacturing programme in November 2025.
Before that, New Delhi sanctioned a $802 million REPMs manufacturing programme in November 2025.