President Trump is demanding that Ukraine provide the US with the equivalent of US$ 500 billion in minerals and rare earths, in return for US assistance to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
India is developing reliable deep-sea mining technologies and platforms to tap ocean resources to address its need for rare earth minerals that increasingly power renewable energy sources.
Turkiye's discovery of rare earth elements deposits holds immense potential to revive its economy and diversify global supply chains, but significant challenges lie ahead.
As India’s strides in the renewable sector are increasingly gaining pace, it gives an opportunity to assess what potential challenges and opportunities arise for India in the face of China’s growing dominance in the renewable energy industry.
Given China’s stated policy of using its rare earth dominance for strategic purposes, countries have been looking for ways to diversify their sources of supply. India too needs to acquire expertise in valorising rare earth minerals and shift to developing its downstream sector.
There are a few minerals which are categorized as ‘strategic’ because of their importance for the industries and owing to natural and man-made difficulties in their procurement. There has been an attempt here to contextualize the importance of strategic materials from a national security perspective. This study presents a macro view with regard to India’s strategic minerals architecture and undertakes analysis to understand current and futuristic challenges and opportunities in this sector, and offers a few recommendations based on the assessment undertaken. Issues related to Rare Earth and new materials are also discussed.
