Rare Earth Elements: India’s Critical Strategic Deficiencies and China’s Dominance – Problems and Solutions

In the 1990s China decided to use Rare Earth Elements (REE) as the engine of its growth in the 21st century. In his January 1992 tour to Inner Mongolia province Deng Xiaoping famously said “The Middle East has its oil, China has rare earth”. Broad contours of the Chinese strategy of using REEs has been to become a major producer and then use raw material to capture large parts of manufacturing value chains using its dominance in this critical 21st-century raw material. Deng realized that REEs are critical to almost all electronic manufacturing and are essential components of miniature permanent magnets (Rare Earth Permanent Magnets or REPM). These REPM are critical to making high-performance electric motors that are the engine of modern electric vehicles. REPMs are also critical for almost all green energy applications and manufacture of critical defence equipment like missiles, rockets, guidance systems, and aircraft. Read More…