Amid rising global demand for rare earth elements, a parliamentary panel has urged the government to strengthen IREL (India) with targeted budgetary support to prioritise the exploration and mining of these critical minerals. IREL, a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energy, is currently the only company in India engaged in mining rare earth ores and refining them into rare earth oxides.

The Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel, in its latest report, called on the government to formulate strategies to improve domestic availability through identification, exploration and assessment of economic viability, with the objective of reducing India’s heavy dependence on imports. Rare earth minerals, which are difficult and costly to extract due to their low concentration in nature, are vital for clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, electric motors, hybrid vehicle batteries and solar power systems, as well as for defence applications.

Under the Mines and Minerals framework, rare earth minerals that do not contain uranium and thorium are classified as critical and strategic minerals, while those containing uranium and thorium are designated as atomic minerals and regulated by the Department of Atomic Energy. The committee said the government should consider reinforcing institutions such as IREL through focused budgetary allocations to accelerate exploration and mining of rare earth elements.

The panel also suggested that the Ministry of Mines explore international collaborations to facilitate the transfer of technological know-how and mineral processing capabilities in the rare earth sector. It noted that the Geological Survey of India has stepped up exploration efforts, having undertaken 186 rare earth exploration projects over the past three years, with 94 projects currently underway across the country in the ongoing financial year.

IREL has a mineral processing capacity of about 0.6 million tonnes per annum and produces key minerals including ilmenite, rutile, zircon, sillimanite and garnet. The company operates a rare earth extraction plant at Chatrapur in Odisha and a refining unit at Aluva in Kerala. It is also focused on expanding production capacity, supporting downstream value chain industries and advancing research and development through its facility in Kollam, Kerala.