India rare earth minerals push accelerates exploration and resource mapping

On February 3, 2026, the Minister of Coal and Mines informed the Rajya Sabha that India is accelerating efforts around India rare earth minerals by strengthening exploration, mining, and value addition initiatives. The focus reflects growing strategic importance of rare earths for advanced manufacturing, clean energy technologies, and long-term resource security.

Nationwide exploration of rare earth resources

The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, a constituent unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, is actively carrying out exploration across coastal and inland placer sands as well as hard rock terrains. These activities span multiple geological settings and are designed to improve the national inventory of rare earth-bearing resources.

Coastal and inland placer sand deposits

As of January 28, 2026, AMD has identified rare earth mineral resources across 136 beach sand deposits containing monazite, a mineral rich in thorium and rare earths. These deposits are spread across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, underscoring the geographic diversity of India’s resource base.

Hard rock rare earth mineral findings

In addition to placer sands, three rare earth mineral deposits hosted in hard rock formations have been identified in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Together with the coastal and inland deposits, these resources contribute substantially to the country’s in-situ rare earth oxide potential, strengthening India’s position in the global rare earth supply landscape. Overall, the identified beach sand deposits contain about 13.15 million tonnes of monazite with approximately 7.23 million tonnes of in-situ rare earth oxide equivalent resources. The hard rock deposits add a further 1.29 million tonnes of in-situ rare earth oxide equivalent resources, reinforcing the government’s push to secure critical mineral supplies through systematic exploration and future value addition.