India and Myanmar are seeking to boost cooperation in rare earths as New Delhi expands efforts to diversify supplies of the strategic minerals and cut dependence on China, which dominates their global supply.

Cooperation in the mining sector has gained significant momentum over the last two years, India’s envoy to Myanmar, Abhay Thakur, said at the opening Session of the India–Myanmar Forum on Mining and Minerals Cooperation this week.

These minerals are needed to make key components for renewable energy generation, electric vehicles, energy storage systems, advanced electronics, telecommunications, and other industries. About half of the world’s supply of heavy rare earths is extracted from mines in Myanmar’s Kachin state. They are shipped to China for processing into magnets.

“India and Myanmar are well-positioned to work together in this emerging landscape,” the envoy said. Two mining sector delegations on rare earths and critical minerals from India visited Myanmar in December 2024 and then again this past February.

State-backed miner IREL and private firm Midwest Advanced Materials are among those reportedly involved in discussions to explore the collection and transportation of samples from mines in Myanmar.

As part of a strategy to diversify supplies and cut dependence on critical minerals from China, which is the world’s largest producer of rare earths, New Delhi recently sought rare-earth samples from a Siberian deposit owned by Russian company Rosneft.

IREL, which spearheads the South Asian nation’s outreach to secure rare-earth supplies, aims to study the mineral composition of a deposit in Tomtor, Siberia, acquired by Rosneft in 2025. It is also in talks with Japanese and South Korean companies to manufacture rare-earth magnets commercially.

India sits on the world’s third-largest rare-earth reserves of nearly 7.23 million metric tons, but does not produce rare-earth magnets domestically. Its consumption is expected to double by 2030.

In November 2025, New Delhi allocated $802 million for a program to manufacture rare-earth permanent magnets. India has also joined the US-led Pax Silica alliance, which aims to secure a supply chain for artificial intelligence, chips, and critical minerals.

India also announced specialized industrial zones called rare-earth corridors in the states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu for mining, processing, research, and manufacturing of rare earth permanent magnets.