India’s border region of the Northeast has been identified as an area with “promising” deposits of rare earth elements and critical minerals essential for digital and defense manufacturing, and clean energy transition.
After years of research and exploration, the state-owned Geological Survey of India (GSI) has concluded that “the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have emerged as promising zones for graphite, vanadium, REEs, base metals, gold, coal and limestone, while Meghalaya and Nagaland hold extensive resources of limestone, coal, and minor strategic metals.”
The 63-page report by GSI added that the country’s growing demand for such resources underlines “the need to identify and develop domestic sources, particularly in geologically promising regions such as the northeast.”
The rare earth elements (REE) are a set of 17 metallic elements grouped into light and heavy categories. They are necessary for the production of more than 200 consumer products, such as cellular telephones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, and televisions. Defense applications include guidance systems, lasers, electronic displays, and radar and sonar systems.
India’s northeastern states, especially the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, have been known for their hydrocarbon reserves since the colonial era. Rich deposits of uranium have also been discovered in Meghalaya, but extraction of these deposits has been opposed by local organizations.
The GSI report identified Lodoso village in Arunachal Pradesh’s Papum Pare district as having 2.15 million tons of REE-bearing ferruginous phyllite, a type of metamorphic rock. In Assam, the concentrations of REE ranged from 1,000 to 5,000 parts per million, while it was between 3,646 and 5,100 parts in Meghalaya.
The GSI’s estimate of REE deposits in the Northeast is part of the total of 482.6 metric tons of various cut-off grades in 34 exploration projects in the country. The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) has identified around 7.23 million tons across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
The discovery of REEs in the Northeast assumes importance given India’s heavy dependence on importing finished products while exporting raw REE ore. India’s REE imports are primarily sourced from China, which comprised 81 percent of imports in 2022. China is the world’s leading exporter of rare earth magnets and has imposed export restrictions on REE and finished magnets.
As part of its strategy to diversify the sourcing of rare earths, the Indian government established the Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL) in 2019 as a joint venture between the National Aluminum Company Ltd., Hindustan Copper Ltd., and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Ltd. Its goal is to secure access to mineral resources abroad. India signed agreements for the supply of lithium with several countries, including one with Argentina in 2024. Early this year, the government approved the launch of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) to be implemented over seven years till 2031 to boost domestic manufacturing of rare earth magnets.
India’s overseas endeavor began last year when it joined the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), a U.S.-led initiative of 14 countries, which is aimed at securing supply chains for critical minerals. India’s engagement with Japan and Australia under the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) is also aimed at reducing dependence on China.
In July, a joint statement was released in Washington during the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting, announcing the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, through which the four-nation grouping plans to secure a steady supply of critical minerals and reduce dependence on China.
The GSI has already handed over 38 blocks for exploration across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, and Nagaland in the Northeast, of which seven have already been auctioned. These blocks cover a range of mineral commodities, including graphite, vanadium, REE, limestone, iron ore, glass sand, copper, nickel, chromium, and cobalt.
The GSI believes that India’s northeastern region could be central to the “national strategy for mineral security.” Due to topographical challenges, complex geology, remoteness, and political instability, the resources of the Northeast had remained largely unexplored.
This could change now as India surges on the path of self-reliance in critical and industrial minerals.