Long Game

India’s push to build its own rare earth magnet industry is being framed as a leap towards strategic autonomy, but it is better understood as a late awakening.

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For years, supply security was treated as an abstract concern, until trade frictions and export controls exposed how deeply modern manufacturing depends on a narrow geography. Magnets may be small, yet they sit at the core of electric vehicles, wind turbines, defence platforms, and medical equipment, making vulnerability unavoidable. The government's incentive scheme signals intent, but intent alone cannot manufacture competence. Magnet production requires advanced metallurgy, precision sintering, tight quality control, and a workforce trained in techniques that take decades to master. Countries that dominate this space built ecosystems patiently, linking universities, research labs and industry. India is attempting to compress that journey into a few years, while still lacking commercial-scale experience, proven technology platforms and credible industrial champions capable of executing at scale for the long term.