Parl panel suggests funding boost for IREL to prioritise rare earth mining

Amid the rising global demand for rare earth elements, a parliamentary panel has urged the government to bolster IREL (India) with focused budgetary support to prioritise exploration and mining of the critical mineral.

IREL (India), a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), is the only company in India that is engaged in the mining of rare earth ores and refining them into rare earth oxides.

The Standing Committee on Coal, Mines, and Steel, in its latest report, also asked the government to formulate strategies for their domestic availability, identification, exploration, and economic viability, aiming to bring down the country's heavy import dependence.

Rare earth minerals broadly are a group of metallic elements that are difficult and expensive to extract and process because they are rarely found in high concentrations.

They play a critical role in clean energy applications like wind energy turbines, hybrid car batteries, electric motors, solar energy, and defence applications.

In the Mining Act, rare earth minerals not containing uranium and thorium are classified as critical and strategic minerals under Part-D of the First Schedule, whereas minerals containing uranium and thorium are atomic minerals under Part-B of the First Schedule and are regulated by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), it said.

"...the government should consider strengthening existing institutions like IREL through targeted budgetary allocations to prioritise the exploration and mining of rare earth elements," the report said.

In addition, the panel suggested that the mines ministry should consider exploring international collaborations for the transfer of technological know-how and mineral processing capabilities in the rare earth mineral sector.

The report further said that the Geological Survey of India is giving emphasis on the exploration for REE in different parts of the country with an aim to find out potential mineralised locales as well as to augment mineral resources. During the last three years, GSI has taken up 186 projects on REE, and in the current fiscal year, GSI is carrying out 94 exploration projects on REE across the country.

With a processing capacity of 6 lakh tonnes per annum, IREL produces key minerals like ilmenite, rutile, zircon, sillimanite, and garnet. It also operates a rare earth extraction plant in Chatrapur, Odisha, and a rare earth refining unit at Aluva, Kerala.

IREL is focused on expanding its production capacity, supporting value chain industries, and advancing R&D through its facility in Kollam, Kerala.