



Mint Explainer | Why India’s rare earth deal with Brazil matters after Pax Silica
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI: As part of India’s playbook to diversify its critical mineral and rare earth supplies, India on Saturday inked a pact with Brazil.
The South American country has the second-largest source of rare earth and other critical mineral ores after China. Mint explains the development that comes a day after India formally joined the US-led alliance for the critical mineral global supply chain Pax Silica.
Brazil is not a part of the alliance.
What are rare earths and critical minerals?
There are 17 rare-earth elements, including samarium, dysprosium, and neodymium, which are metallic. Simultaneously, there are minerals notified by the government to be critical minerals, essential in India’s growth journey and energy transition.
Simply put, it is difficult to engage in advanced manufacturing and make electric vehicles and their batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and even semiconductors without rare earth elements and critical minerals.
In 2023, India identified a list of critical minerals, including copper, cobalt, bismuth, graphite, lithium and rare earth elements.
How big is India’s stockpile?
India has a fairly large supply of rare-earth ores.
According to the US government’s Mineral Commodity Survey 2025, India has the third-largest rare earth reserves (6.9 million tonnes) in the world after China (44 million tonnes) and Brazil (21 million tonnes).
India, however, lags in processing capacity, 90% of which is controlled by China. This vulnerability led to panic among Indian manufacturers in the wake of a rare-earth magnet export halt by China in April last year.
India also has reserves of critical minerals, such as lithium, but it is still largely dependent on imports to meet local