India to commence production of rare-earth permanent magnet within this year: Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy

India will commence production of rare-earth permanent magnet within this year, Union Minister for Mines G. Kishan Reddy stated Thursday (February 19, 2026).

Rare-earth permanent magnets are among the strongest variant of magnets and utilised in electric vehicles, renewable energy installations, electronics, aerospace and defence. Essential to also note for context, the Union Cabinet had given its nod to a scheme for rare-earth permanent magnet manufacturing, worth 6,000 metric tons per annum, in November last year. This held a financial outlay of ₹7,280 crore.

Editorial:On India and rare earth elements

Further, whilst underlining the government’s imperative for reducing dependency on import of critical mineral at a critical minerals summit of the industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Mr. Reddy also announced the government’s plan to set up dedicated parks for critical mineral processing plants in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The Member of Parliament from Secunderabad informed the Gujarat government has already initiated work on the front while the state government of Andhra Pradesh has given their nod.

Underlining the rationale, Mr. Reddy stated, “At this point, there are very few manufacturing plants in India,” adding, “[Even] After much toiling, we extract raw materials, it goes to some other country [for processing]. We should look to avert this [dynamics], process it here – this is a challenge for us”.

Further, Mr. Reddy also emphasised that India possesses “immense potential” for extracting critical minerals from waste scraps. “Considering India’s population, and there being multiple old unused cell phones within households – we neither throw it nor give it someone. We could look to extract critical minerals from them,” he stated, emphasising that the recycling avenue should also be explored with urban India holding immense potential.

He stated the dynamics neither requires a mine nor mandates any forest or environment clearance. Further, whilst assuring about policy, operational and financial support, Mr. Reddy also spoke about importing scrap from outside India to pursue the recycling.