Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced that the government is developing strategies to enhance the availability of rare earth minerals through various approaches, such as establishing trade agreements with Chile and Peru, encouraging local exploration efforts, and involving startups in recycling and processing activities.

These essential minerals support the expansion of fast-developing clean energy sectors, such as electric vehicle production and battery manufacturing. Nations including Chile, Peru, and Australia possess significant deposits of these valuable resources.

India has already established a trade agreement with Australia and is currently in discussions with the South American countries of Chile and Peru. An Indian delegation is traveling to these two South American nations for upcoming trade negotiations.

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"In our country, we are looking at increasing explorations and I have been talking to start-ups engaged in this area both for recycling of the waste, from which we can extract rare earths, and we are also in dialogue with start-ups to see if we can create the processing facility in India, which is currently concentrated in one geography," Goyal said.

China, which dominates the market for these minerals, has placed limitations on their export, causing disruptions to global supply networks.

 

The minister further recommended that industries should broaden their supply sources, warning that relying heavily on a single country for importing any commodity could lead to complications.

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"We must assess all our respective supply chains, see whether they are overly dependent on any particular geography," he said, adding if it is dependent on one country, you are prone to vulnerability, particularly in a world where trade is being used as a weapon".

"We have seen weaponisation of trade and supply chains. Make your supply chains robust, wherever possible, be self-sufficient and self-reliant. Make sure we have a sufficient number of options so that we are not vulnerable," he added.

Additionally, he mentioned that the government is developing frameworks for the recently announced Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds Scheme for startups, which was introduced in the Budget. This initiative targets manufacturing and advanced technology industries that need extended financing periods.

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During an Assocham gathering, Goyal noted that although these nations have the ability to boost their sales to India, Indian exporters face challenges when attempting to access their markets.

Conversely, he mentioned that the free trade agreements signed by the NDA administration are contributing to the growth of India's export sector. The current government has established these agreements with countries including the UAE, Mauritius, Australia, and the EFTA group.