India Plans 5,000 Tonnes Rare Earth Magnet Capacity by 2030

• India targets 5,000 tonnes magnet output by 2030.
• Production to scale from 500 to 2,000 tonnes by 2028.
• Aim: cut imports, meet rising EV and tech demand.

India is gearing up to develop a domestic infrastructure for rare earth permanent magnets, with a goal of producing 5,000 tonnes annually by 2030. This is part of its larger strategy to cut down on imports and build up critical mineral supply chains. In a statement, the government has said the move is a phased progressive development.

India's target is to produce 500 tonnes per year initially, then 2,000 tonnes by 2028 and finally 5,000 tonnes by 2030. However, India still relies on imports for over 80% of rare earth magnets. The main reason being limited processing and manufacturing capacities of these magnets domestically. The move is in line with significantly increasing demand driven by a whole range of uses of these magnets.

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Therefore, Indias demand for rare earth magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines electronics defence systems, and aerospace is estimated at around 4,000 tonnes today and is expected to double to nearly 8,000 tonnes by 2030. Besides the above expansion plan, the government has also recently announced some major steps for: India is also focusing on ramping up the upstream supply chain by launching rare earth resource exploration in the states of Rajasthan Gujarat etc. as well as formulating new policy frameworks to speed up mining and processing.

Though having the second largest rare earth reserves in the world, India is short of midstream processing capabilities, which has traditionally hindered its capacity to turn raw materials into high-value magnets. Basically, this move is a part of Indias larger plan to become self-sufficient in critical technologies, thereby enabling the country to rely less on global suppliers particularly in a situation where the market is largely controlled by China and to back the development of the clean energy and advanced manufacturing sectors.