India expands mineral security push with new critical minerals, rare earth framework with the US

India and the United States signed a bilateral framework titled "Framework on the Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Ra...

What Happened

India and the United States signed a bilateral framework titled "Framework on the Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths" on May 26, 2026, on the sidelines of the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi.
The framework covers the full value chain: mining, processing, recycling, and related investment in critical minerals and rare earth elements.
The agreement is intended to build resilient and diversified supply chains, reduce dependence on single-source suppliers (particularly China), and support emerging technologies including semiconductors, electric vehicles, clean energy systems, and defence manufacturing.
The pact follows the April 2025 disruption to global supply chains when China imposed export controls on seven categories of heavy rare earth elements and rare earth magnets, causing severe shortages for carmakers and defence manufacturers globally.
The agreement was described by the Ministry of External Affairs as an "important milestone" aligned with the shared strategic vision articulated during the February 2025 bilateral summit.

Static Topic Bridges

Critical Minerals — Definition, Strategic Importance, and India's List

Critical minerals are raw materials of high economic importance to modern industry and technology that face significant supply risk due to geographic concentration of production and processing. They are essential inputs for clean energy technologies (EV batteries, wind turbines, solar panels), defence equipment, and advanced electronics (semiconductors). The Ministry of Mines released India's first official list of 30 critical minerals in June 2023, following a methodology developed in consultation with the International Energy Agency (IEA).

India's 30 critical minerals (June 2023): include Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE (Platinum Group Elements), Phosphorous, Potash, REE (Rare Earth Elements), Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium, and Cadmium
Legal framework: Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 inserted 24 critical and strategic minerals into Part D of Schedule I of the MMDR Act, 1957; also enabled auction of offshore mineral blocks
First auction tranche: November 29, 2023 (20 blocks)
Nodal ministry: Ministry of Mines
India's Critical Mineral Mission: launched in 2024, focused on domestic exploration, overseas acquisition, and recycling

Connection to this news: The India-US framework directly addresses supply security for these 30 minerals by establishing cooperative investment, processing, and recycling pathways with the world's largest economy.

China's Rare Earth Dominance and Export Control Escalation

China controls approximately 60% of global rare earth mining and over 90% of global rare earth processing and refining. This structural dominance has enabled China to use rare earth export controls as a geopolitical lever. In April 2025, China imposed export licensing requirements on seven categories of heavy rare earth elements (including terbium, dysprosium, gadolinium, and lutetium) and all rare earth permanent magnets, triggering global supply chain disruptions. Separately, since December 2024, China banned exports of gallium, germanium, and antimony to the United States — critical for defence and semiconductor applications.

China's share of global REE processing: ~90%
April 4, 2025: China export controls imposed on seven heavy REE categories and rare earth magnets
Impact: carmakers in Europe and the US faced production slowdowns; European rare earth prices reached up to 6x Chinese domestic prices
China's gallium/germanium/antimony ban: effective December 2024 (restricted to US; partial suspension November–2026)
Global rare earth reserves: China (44 million tonnes) > Brazil (21 million tonnes) > India (6.9 million tonnes)
India's production gap: holds ~7% of global REE reserves but produces less than 1% globally

Connection to this news: The April 2025 supply chain shock directly motivated the India-US framework — both nations sought to jointly develop alternative sourcing, processing, and recycling infrastructure to reduce exposure to single-supplier risk.

Rare Earth Elements (REE) — Classification and Applications

Rare earth elements are a set of 17 metallic elements: the 15 lanthanides (lanthanum to lutetium in the periodic table) plus scandium and yttrium. Despite the name, most REEs are not geologically scarce — they are difficult to mine and process because they are rarely found in economically concentrated deposits and require complex, environmentally intensive separation processes. They are classified as light REEs (LREEs: lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium) and heavy REEs (HREEs: terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium).

Applications: Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets are the most powerful permanent magnets; used in EV motors, wind turbine generators, precision-guided munitions, and hard disk drives
India's REE reserves: 6.9 million tonnes REO (ranked 3rd globally after China and Brazil)
India's monazite deposits: ~12 million tonnes concentrated in heavy mineral sands along the southern and eastern coasts (Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala)
Atomic Minerals Directorate (under DAE) announced 13.15 million tonnes of monazite containing ~7.23 million tonnes REO across eight states (January 2026)
Monazite complication: contains radioactive thorium, making it subject to Atomic Energy Act, 1962 restrictions; historically limited commercial exploitation

Connection to this news: India's significant but under-exploited REE reserves position it as a potential alternative supplier — the bilateral framework is designed to attract US investment into India's mining and processing sector to unlock this potential.

India's Critical Mineral Mission and MMDR Act

India's Critical Mineral Mission, launched in 2024, aims to reduce import dependency for minerals critical to clean energy and defence. The MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 overhauled the mining framework by: (i) inserting critical minerals into Schedule I, (ii) transferring exclusive auction authority for six atomic minerals (including lithium and niobium) from states to the central government, and (iii) enabling exploration by private players through a new Exploration Licence category.

MMDR Act, 1957: principal legislation governing mining in India; amended in 2015, 2021, and 2023
2023 Amendment: 24 critical minerals added to Schedule I Part D; states lose jurisdiction over these to Centre
India signed MoU on critical minerals with Australia (2020, under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership), Argentina, Chile, and the Democratic Republic of Congo for upstream sourcing
Overseas investment arm: Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) — set up 2019 by NALCO, HCL, and MECL to acquire overseas critical mineral assets
Target: domestic self-sufficiency in lithium, cobalt, and nickel for battery supply chains by 2030

Connection to this news: The India-US framework builds on India's domestic institutional architecture (KABIL, Critical Mineral Mission, MMDR 2023) to attract US capital and technology for mining and processing scale-up.

Key Facts & Data

Framework signed: May 26, 2026, New Delhi
Scope: mining, processing, recycling, and related investments
India's critical minerals list: 30 minerals (Ministry of Mines, June 2023)
India's REE reserve ranking: 3rd globally (6.9 million tonnes)
India's REE production share: less than 1% of global output
China's REE processing share: ~90% globally
China's April 2025 export controls: 7 heavy REE categories + all rare earth magnets
MMDR Amendment Act: 2023; 24 critical minerals transferred to Central Government jurisdiction
KABIL established: 2019 (NALCO + HCL + MECL joint venture)
India's monazite resources: ~13.15 million tonnes (Atomic Minerals Directorate, January 2026)