India explores rare earth supply deal with Myanmar rebel group

[Redator]

India is exploring the option of securing rare earth minerals from Myanmar’s rebel‐controlled mines in an effort to reduce its reliance on Chinese supply, Reuters said.

Officials from India’s Ministry of Mines have reached out to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a powerful insurgent group that controls a major rare earth belt in northern Myanmar, with eyes on a potential supply agreement, it reported earlier this week, citing people familiar with the matter.

The talks, according to Reuters sources, revolved around KIA sending rare earth samples from its mines to India for lab testing to ensure their industrial applicability. A separate source from the KIA said the rebel group has already started gathering samples and is assessing the viability of bulk exports.

Indian concerns

Rare earths — key inputs in electric vehicles, wind turbines and military hardware — have become a major focus for New Delhi, especially after China moved to tighten its shipments of permanent magnets made from these minerals, leveraging its near-monopoly status in the rare earth supply chain.

Concerned over the exposure to supply shocks, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, whose forces are battling the KIA, with discussions centering around rare earth mining deals, Reuters recently reported. However, no deal has been announced since those talks, nor were any other detail provided.

China risks global heavy rare earth supply to stop Myanmar rebel victory

India’s outreach to the KIA represents another avenue through which it could gain access to Myanmar’s rare earths. “If China is liaising with the KIA to secure access to rare earths, why should India be left behind?” an independent analyst told Reuters. “That competition also frames this outreach.”

Myanmar’s Kachin state in the north is among the world’s few sources of heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium, prized for high‐performance magnets. State-owned miner IREL, which was amongst the parties involved with the KIA discussions, last year sent a team to Kachin to study resources.

The KIA has consolidated control of key mines amid civil conflict since the military coup in 2021. China already sources some material from the area, though its ties with the rebels remain uneasy due to the ongoing civil war, Reuters said.

Meanwhile, India is also looking to address its lack of industrial-scale facilities to process rare earths. has sought partnerships with Japanese and Korean companies to begin commercial production of rare earth magnets.

Long-term partners?

According to Reuters, India’s collaboration with KIA may result in a longer-term supply arrangement, though the plan faces significant logistical hurdles. The mines lie in remote, mountainous terrain with limited infrastructure, and existing routes primarily funnel material into neighboring China.

While IREL has been part of these discussions, the state prefers that a private company assume responsibility for transport, its sources said. “Even if shipments to India were secured, the country would struggle to process them without Chinese expertise,” said Nabeel Mancheri, a Belgium-based rare earths analyst.

“Theoretically, if India gets these materials, it could separate and turn them into usable products,” Mancheri added. “But scaling up to produce meaningful quantities for global markets would take time.”