Overview

• Rating agency Icra warns that India’s rare earth magnet inventories could be exhausted by mid-July, threatening EV traction motor and power steering production.
• Automakers are evaluating stopgap measures such as importing fully assembled motors or sending sub-assemblies to China for magnet insertion, and some are fast-tracking development of magnet-free motor designs.
• In response to supply disruptions, New Delhi is considering cutting the PLI scheme’s 50% EV parts localisation mandate and offering fiscal incentives to cultivate a domestic magnet-making industry.
• The external affairs ministry says sustained contacts with Chinese commerce and customs offices aim to restore predictability in export licences and accelerate shipments.
• The government has asked Indian Rare Earths Ltd to halt exports to Japan and launched the National Critical Mineral Mission to expand domestic extraction, refining and magnet production capacity.