France pitches processing partnership for India's rare earth ambitions

French official says India should invest in rare earth processing and refining before domestic mines start production, while expanding technology, financing and research partnerships

France sees an opportunity to partner with India in building rare earth processing capabilities even before the country's domestic mines begin production, with processing facilities able to operate using imported feedstock, Benjamin Gallezot, France's Interministerial Delegate for Strategic Minerals and Metals Supplies, said on Tuesday.

 

"In general, the mineral is not the limiting factor; processing is," Benjamin Gallezot, France's Interministerial Delegate for Strategic Minerals and Metals Supplies, told reporters at a select media briefing on Tuesday.

 

The remarks come as India steps up efforts to secure supplies of rare earth elements and other critical minerals while building domestic capabilities across the value chain amid concerns over concentrated global supply chains.

 

 

Gallezot said countries seeking to establish rare earth industries need not wait for domestic mines to become operational before investing in processing infrastructure, since rare earth concentrates can be sourced from multiple producers around the world.

 

"If you want to launch processing activity in India, you can import concentrate from different countries. You don't have to wait for mines to start production," he said.

 

He argued that separation and refining remain the biggest bottlenecks in the rare earth value chain, and that mining, processing, recycling and downstream manufacturing should be developed simultaneously rather than sequentially.

 

France sees its biggest contribution to India's critical minerals ambitions in these technologically intensive stages of the value chain rather than in mining itself. According to Gallezot, French companies have expertise in rare earth separation, refining, metallisation, recycling and magnet manufacturing.

 

Beyond industrial partnerships, France is also expanding scientific cooperation with India. Gallezot said the Geological Survey of India and France's geological survey, BRGM, will work together on artificial intelligence-enabled mineral exploration, geological modelling and technologies to recover critical minerals from mine tailings, as both countries seek to strengthen domestic resource security and improve exploration efficiency.

 

He said the collaboration would complement commercial partnerships by helping develop technical capabilities across the critical minerals ecosystem.

 

Gallezot also said French companies are interested in participating in India's proposed rare earth industrial corridors through technology partnerships and investments in downstream processing facilities.

 

In addition to technology, France is prepared to support critical mineral projects through several financing mechanisms, including a €500 million critical minerals investment fund that can take equity stakes, government-backed loan guarantees linked to French industrial buyers, and development finance institutions such as Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Proparco.

 

He added that India and France could also partner on critical mineral projects in third countries as both nations diversify supply chains.

 

"The objective is sovereignty through cooperation," Gallezot said, arguing that resilient critical mineral supply chains would be built through international partnerships spanning mining, processing, recycling and manufacturing rather than through resource nationalism alone.