Lok Sabha Question No. 1323 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: Rare Earth Minerals
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: Anubhav Mohanty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY LOK   SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1323

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.12.2022

## Rare Earth Minerals

## 1323.  SHRI ANUBHAV MOHANTY:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  India  is  reliant  on  China  when  it  comes  to  accessing  rare  earth minerals and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether the Government has taken any step to develop its own rare earth value chain and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the steps taken by the Government in terms of exploration and production of rare earth minerals; and
- (d)  the details of India's import and domestically produced rare earth minerals?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  PERSONNEL,  PUBLIC  GRIEVANCES  & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

- (a) No, India is not reliant on China for accessing rare earth minerals.
- (b) In  India,  capacity  and  capabilities  in  terms  of  mining,  processing,  extraction, refining and production of high pure RE oxides is adequately available. RE in the form of oxides/ compounds, duly liberated from radioactivity is available for all including the private sector since 1950. As regards developing rare earth value chain, a Rare Earth Theme Park is being setup which will upscale the scientific principles  proven  at  laboratory  to  pilot  scale  and  demonstrate  the  same  to aspiring Industries willing to set up commercial operations. Besides, the Theme Park will also undertake skill development activities to develop the workforce of future.
- (c) Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit  of  DAE  is  carrying  out  exploration  to  augment  resources  of  Rare  Earth Elements (REE) along the coastal / inland / riverine placer sands of the country for  augmentation  of  Heavy  Minerals  resource,  which  includes  monazite  (a mineral of REE and thorium) and xenotime (a mineral of REE and yttrium) as

well as in several potential geological domains (hard rocks) of the country.

As  on  September,  2022;  Atomic  Minerals  Directorate  for  Exploration  and Research (AMD) has established

-  13.07 million tonnes in-situ monazite (containing ~55-60% total Rare Earth Elements oxide) resource occurring in the coastal beach placer sands in parts  of  Kerala,  Tamil  Nadu,  Odisha,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Maharashtra  and Gujarat and in the inland placers in parts of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
-  7,37,283  tonne  Rare  Earth  Elements  Oxide  (REO)  in  Ambadungar  area, Chhota Udepur district, Gujarat
-  36,945 tonnes REO in Bhatikhera area, Barmer district, Rajasthan
-  2,000  tonne  of  heavy  mineral  concentrate  containing  ~2%  xenotime  (a phosphate mineral of yttrium and rare earth elements) in the riverine placer deposits  of  Chhattisgarh  and  Jharkhand.  Presently,  AMD  is  carrying  out collection  of  xenotime  bearing  heavy  mineral  concentrate  in  the  unit established in Chhattisgarh and has a stockpile of 97.688 tonnes xenotime bearing heavy mineral concentrate.

Further,  Geological  Survey  of  India  (GSI)  carries  out  mapping  and  exploration activities  for  various  mineral  commodities  including  Rare  Earth  Element  (REE) and  Rare  Metal  (RM)  in  different  parts  of  the  country  with  an  aim  to  find  out potential mineralized locales as well as to augment mineral resource.

As regards production, capacity and capabilities in terms of mining, processing, extraction,  refining  and  production  of  high  pure  RE  oxides  is  adequately available in India.

- (d) The production of Monazite the primary source of rare earth mineral in India, is around  4000 MT per annum.  Though IREL has installed  capacity to process about  10,000  MT  of  rare  earth  bearing  mineral,  the  production  is  capped  on account of non-grant of mining leases, environment clearance, CRZ clearance from  MoEF & CC, Consent to Operate, restrictions  on  account  of  Forest  and uncontrolled inhabitation etc.

Details of import of rare earth elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020,  28469030,  28469090)  during  FY  2019-2020  to  2022-23  (upto September 2022) and in terms of quantity is enclosed as (Annexure- I).

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## ANNEXURE - I

| India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   | India's import of Rare Earth Elements (ITCHS: 28461010, 28469010, 28469020, 28469030, 28469090) during last 3 FYs (2019-20 to 2021-22) and current FY 2022-23 (April-Sep.)   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                              | UNIT                                                                                                                                                                         |                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                              | 2021-22 2021-22(TILL SEP'21)                                                                                                                                                 | 2021-22 2021-22(TILL SEP'21)                                                                                                                                                 | Value in USD 2022-23(TILL SEP'22)                                                                                                                                            | Value in USD 2022-23(TILL SEP'22)                                                                                                                                            |
| ITCHS                                                                                                                                                                        | COMMODITY                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                              | QTY                                                                                                                                                                          | VALUE                                                                                                                                                                        | QTY                                                                                                                                                                          | VALUE                                                                                                                                                                        | QTY                                                                                                                                                                          | VALUE                                                                                                                                                                        | QTY                                                                                                                                                                          | VALUE                                                                                                                                                                        | QTY                                                                                                                                                                          | VALUE                                                                                                                                                                        |
| 28461010                                                                                                                                                                     | CERIUM OXIDES                                                                                                                                                                | KGS                                                                                                                                                                          | 102495                                                                                                                                                                       | 0.52                                                                                                                                                                         | 184250                                                                                                                                                                       | 2.04                                                                                                                                                                         | 112639                                                                                                                                                                       | 1.16                                                                                                                                                                         | 91876                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.98                                                                                                                                                                         | 138432                                                                                                                                                                       | 1.30                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 28469010                                                                                                                                                                     | RARE EARTH OXIDES NES                                                                                                                                                        | KGS                                                                                                                                                                          | 10848                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.20                                                                                                                                                                         | 15176                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.20                                                                                                                                                                         | 17638                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.29                                                                                                                                                                         | 12185                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.21                                                                                                                                                                         | 5136                                                                                                                                                                         | 0.13                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 28469020                                                                                                                                                                     | RARE EARTH FLUORIDES NES                                                                                                                                                     | KGS                                                                                                                                                                          | 3                                                                                                                                                                            | 0.01                                                                                                                                                                         | 102                                                                                                                                                                          | 0.01                                                                                                                                                                         | 3025                                                                                                                                                                         | 0.01                                                                                                                                                                         | 25                                                                                                                                                                           | 0.00                                                                                                                                                                         | 0                                                                                                                                                                            | 0.00                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 28469030                                                                                                                                                                     | RARE EARTH CHLORIDES NES                                                                                                                                                     | KGS                                                                                                                                                                          | 15004                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.02                                                                                                                                                                         | 20000                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.03                                                                                                                                                                         | 30002                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.05                                                                                                                                                                         | 20002                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.03                                                                                                                                                                         | 10000                                                                                                                                                                        | 0.02                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 28469090                                                                                                                                                                     | OTHER COMPNDS INORGNC/ORGNC OF RARE EARTH MATERIALS                                                                                                                          | KGS                                                                                                                                                                          | 832370                                                                                                                                                                       | 11.35                                                                                                                                                                        | 510167                                                                                                                                                                       | 7.31                                                                                                                                                                         | 557031                                                                                                                                                                       | 7.66                                                                                                                                                                         | 350855                                                                                                                                                                       | 4.77                                                                                                                                                                         | 273614                                                                                                                                                                       | 2.95                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Grand Total                                                                                                                                                                  |                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                              | 960720                                                                                                                                                                       | 12.10                                                                                                                                                                        | 729695                                                                                                                                                                       | 9.59                                                                                                                                                                         | 720335                                                                                                                                                                       | 9.17                                                                                                                                                                         | 474943                                                                                                                                                                       | 6.00                                                                                                                                                                         | 427182                                                                                                                                                                       | 4.39                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    | Source: DGCIS Figures of FY2022-23 are Provisional and Subject to Change.                                                                                                    |

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