KOCHI: Rare-earth minerals have not had it this good, with both the Union and state budgets emphasising their importance in the country’s economic scheme of things.
On Sunday, the Union finance minister pointed out that the central government proposes to support the mineral-rich states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu to establish dedicated corridors to promote the mining, processing, research and manufacture of rare-earth minerals. A scheme to support the states in establishing three dedicated chemical parks on a cluster-based plug-and-play model was also proposed.
According to Dr V Ambili, deputy director general (DDG) of the Kerala unit of the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the announcement is big news for the state. “Once the corridor is established, the state will witness industrial revolution-scale development.
Besides benefitting from the revenue generated through royalties, the state will also see a large number of jobs opening up. The corridor will need new infrastructure and raw-material processing and other associated activities will need skilled people,” she said.
As for the environmental consequences of mining activities, she pointed out that IREL and Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) are already engaged in limited processing. “But even if all the rare earth minerals are extracted, the residual sand will be deposited back. But, of course, the project will face geopolitical winds,” said Ambili.
As to allegations that the Centre is trying to rob the state of its mineral wealth, she said, “The central government is very serious about pursuing the project. So, if the state government doesn’t implement the project, the Centre could take its place. Once that happens, we will have no one else to blame,” she added.
With China ruling the world of rare-earth elements there are restrictions to what India can import, Ambili pointed out. “As a country with the third largest critical mineral deposits, India would want to explore the opportunities within,” the deputy director said.
Nod for REPMs last year
The Union cabinet had last year approved a I7,280 cr scheme to promote the manufacture of sintered rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs), aiming to establish 6,000-tonnes-per-annum of integrated capacity