Rare-Earth Magnets (REPM)
The ₹7,280 Cr sintered rare-earth permanent magnet scheme - from beach-sand minerals to the magnets in EV motors, wind turbines and missiles
What this is
- The scheme pays five makers up to ₹2,150 per kg of magnets sold for five years - it creates a new Indian industry, not a big one (6,000 tonnes a year).
- Listed exposure is thin today: the core assets (IREL, the bidders' magnet units, recyclers) are unlisted or tiny slices of big companies.
- Near term, the clearest winners are buyers - EV, two-wheeler and defence makers - who get a second source and less China risk.
- Upstream (mining, separation, alloy) is the real bottleneck: IREL's oxide covers only about 1,500 of the 6,000 tonnes. GMDC and NMDC are early, slow-moving options.
Why now
- China makes ~94% of the world's sintered rare-earth magnets (IEA, 2024) and has used export licences as leverage since April 2025.
- Its tougher October 2025 curbs were paused for one year only, to 10 Nov 2026.
- India's ₹7,280 Cr magnet scheme drew 20 bids (L&T, Coal India, 20 Microns and others); no winners had been named by 20 Oct 2026.
- India's magnet use is expected to double from 2025 to 2030, the government says - and today almost all of it is imported, about 93% from China.
What to watch
- MHI's technical shortlist and financial-bid results naming the five REPM beneficiaries
- China's next move on export curbs after the one-year pause (to 10 Nov 2026)
- IREL NdPr oxide output and its 500-tonne allocation to the three lowest bidders
- First commercial sintered magnets from Indian plants (Midwest/MAM Hyderabad line)
- EV two-wheeler output and motor redesigns (ferrite, reduced heavy rare earths)
- Rare Earth Corridor projects in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
Major areas
The map groups the anatomy into these areas before you drop into individual components.
Magnet users
EV and two-wheeler motors, wind turbines and defence systems - the buyers whose supply risk the scheme is meant to cut. They benefit first, through a second source of magnets.
Magnet making & recycling
Turning alloy into finished sintered NdFeB magnets, and recovering rare earths from scrap magnets - the step the scheme pays for directly.
Separation, metal & alloy
Cracking monazite, separating neodymium and praseodymium into oxides, and reducing them to metal and magnet alloy - the hardest, most China-dominated steps.
Mining & feedstock
Beach-sand monazite (IREL's domain) and new hard-rock deposits - where India's rare earths physically come from.
Magnet makers (scheme bidders)
The companies bidding to build India's first integrated oxide-to-magnet plants under the ₹7,280 Cr scheme. Five will win up to 1,200 tonnes a year each; winners have not been named yet (Oct 2026), and for listed bidders the magnet unit would be a small new line, not the core business.
Larsen & Toubro
ListedBidder for the magnet scheme (Aug 2026); also building EV traction motors with Israel's EVR Motors
Coal India
ListedBidder for the magnet scheme as part of its diversification into critical minerals
20 Microns
ListedIndustrial minerals maker that bid for the magnet scheme - the only small-cap listed bidder
Midwest Advanced Materials
UnlistedBuilding a private sintered NdFeB magnet plant in Hyderabad (500 tonnes a year first phase) - the closest to India's first commercial sintered-magnet output - with in-house oxide-to-metal and alloy steps; bid for the scheme as a Midwest Energy-MAM joint venture
Proterial (India)
UnlistedIndian arm of Japan's Proterial (formerly Hitachi Metals), a global sintered-magnet maker; scheme bidder
NEO Performance Materials
UnlistedCanadian rare-earth magnet and materials group that bid through its Singapore unit
Potential bottlenecks
- Big direct-drive generators need large, heavy-rare-earth grade magnetsWind turbines
- Few Indian suppliers of megawatt-scale permanent-magnet generatorsWind turbines
- Samarium-cobalt and heavy-rare-earth grades are not made at scale in IndiaDefence & aerospace
- Strict qualification for military partsDefence & aerospace
- Nearly all NdFeB magnets used in Indian motors are imported, mainly from ChinaEV traction motors
- Chinese export licences need end-use certificates and take weeks per shipmentEV traction motors
- Magnet grades for traction motors need heavy rare earths (dysprosium, terbium) that India does not refine at scaleEV traction motors
- Thin magnet inventories at motor suppliersElectric two-wheelers
- Chinese end-use licensing for each importerElectric two-wheelers
- Ferrite motors are heavier and slightly less efficient, so not every model can switchElectric two-wheelers
- Oxide supply: IREL's 500 tonnes a year of NdPr oxide (200/167/133 t to the three lowest bidders) supports only about 1,500 tonnes of magnets; the other two winners must find their ownSintered magnet making
- Know-how: few bidders have made sintered magnets before; most need foreign technology partnersSintered magnet making
- Equipment (jet mills, sintering furnaces, strip casters) is largely importedSintered magnet making
- Collection: magnet scrap is scattered across e-waste streamsMagnet recycling
- Scrap quality varies; recovered oxide must be purified againMagnet recycling
- Recycling-scheme support is capped at ₹50 Cr per large company, capex and opex combinedMagnet recycling
- Electrolysis-cell and strip-casting know-howRare-earth metal & magnet alloy
- High-purity fluoride salts and graphite consumablesRare-earth metal & magnet alloy
- Energy-intensive, so power costs matterRare-earth metal & magnet alloy
- Pilot to commercial scale-up of BARC's processHard-rock deposits & new miners
- Ore grades and metallurgy still being provenHard-rock deposits & new miners
- Separation capacity needed downstreamHard-rock deposits & new miners
- Monazite contains thorium, so processing is regulated under atomic-energy rules and largely reserved for IRELSeparation & refining (oxides)
- Solvent-extraction know-how and reagentsSeparation & refining (oxides)
- Heavy rare earths (dysprosium, terbium) are scarce in Indian monaziteSeparation & refining (oxides)
- Coastal regulation and environmental approvals for beach miningBeach-sand monazite mining
- Thorium in monazite makes it a regulated atomic mineralBeach-sand monazite mining
- Low rare-earth grades mean large tonnages must be movedBeach-sand monazite mining
Companies in this theme
26 companies, 17 listed. The 6 magnet makers (scheme bidders) are listed above.
Attero Recycling
UnlistedE-waste and battery recycler scaling rare-earth recovery; scheme bidder
Lohum
UnlistedBattery-materials recycler building an NdFeB magnet plant in Uttar Pradesh; scheme bidder (Lohum Magnets & Energy Solutions)
IREL (India) Ltd
UnlistedState-owned miner and processor of beach-sand minerals and India's only large rare-earth separator; supplies NdPr oxide to the three lowest scheme bidders
Toyotsu Rare Earths India
UnlistedToyota Tsusho unit that processes IREL rare-earth material in India, historically for export to Japan
Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre (NFTDC)
UnlistedGovernment R&D centre in Hyderabad that developed the magnet and alloy technology licensed to Midwest
Kerala Minerals and Metals (KMML)
UnlistedKerala state-owned beach-sand miner making ilmenite, rutile and titanium dioxide
Midwest Ltd
ListedGranite and quartz miner with heavy-mineral-sand exploration licences in Sri Lanka; sister concern of the Midwest magnet venture
Company page →Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC)
ListedGujarat state miner developing the Ambadungar rare-earth deposit with BARC technology
Sona BLW Precision Forgings
ListedSona Comstar: EV traction motors and driveline maker - among India's largest importers of rare-earth magnets
Company page →UNO Minda
ListedMakes traction motors for e-two- and three-wheelers (Uno Minda Buehler Motor) and EV powertrain electronics (a JV with China's Inovance) - a direct magnet buyer
Company page →Bharat Forge
ListedForgings major whose Kalyani Powertrain arm develops EV motors and inverters
Company page →Bajaj Auto
ListedTwo- and three-wheeler maker; its Chetak e-scooter was the biggest casualty of the 2025 magnet shortage
Company page →TVS Motor
ListedTwo-wheeler maker whose iQube e-scooter depends on rare-earth hub motors
Company page →Ola Electric
ListedE-scooter maker that certified an in-house rare-earth-free ferrite motor in Oct 2025
Company page →Suzlon Energy
ListedIndia's largest wind-turbine maker; its S144 platform uses a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)
Company page →Inox Wind
ListedWind-turbine maker; its DF-series turbines use doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG), which need little rare-earth magnet
Company page →Bharat Electronics
ListedDefence electronics major (radars, EW, missile subsystems) - a small, strategic magnet user
Company page →Bharat Dynamics
ListedMissile maker - fin actuators and seekers use rare-earth magnets (inferred from how these parts are built; not disclosed)
Company page →Hindustan Aeronautics
ListedFighter, trainer and helicopter maker - control-surface actuators and generators use rare-earth (often samarium-cobalt) magnets
Company page →Common questions
Which listed companies are in India's Rare-Earth Magnets (REPM) supply chain?
NextResearch maps 17 listed companies across 10 layers of the Rare-Earth Magnets (REPM) supply chain. The largest with high or medium exposure, by market cap as of 30 Oct 2026: Larsen & Toubro (₹5.32L Cr); Bajaj Auto (₹2.85L Cr); TVS Motor (₹1.99L Cr); UNO Minda (₹62,666 Cr); and Sona BLW Precision Forgings (₹55,647 Cr).
What are the layers of the Rare-Earth Magnets (REPM) supply chain?
10 layers: Wind turbines, Defence & aerospace, EV traction motors, Electric two-wheelers, Sintered magnet making, Magnet recycling, Rare-earth metal & magnet alloy, Hard-rock deposits & new miners, Separation & refining (oxides) and Beach-sand monazite mining.
Who are the end players in Rare-Earth Magnets (REPM)?
In the Sintered magnet making layer: Larsen & Toubro, 20 Microns, Midwest Advanced Materials (not NSE-listed), Proterial (India) (not NSE-listed) and NEO Performance Materials (not NSE-listed). Also there, with low exposure: Coal India.
What are the bottlenecks in India's Rare-Earth Magnets (REPM) supply chain?
Wind turbines: Big direct-drive generators need large, heavy-rare-earth grade magnets. Defence & aerospace: Samarium-cobalt and heavy-rare-earth grades are not made at scale in India. EV traction motors: Nearly all NdFeB magnets used in Indian motors are imported, mainly from China. Electric two-wheelers: Thin magnet inventories at motor suppliers. More by layer on this page.