In April 2025, Indian automakers, component manufacturers, home-appliance makers and clean-energy industries faced a sudden threat: China began tightening exports of certain rare-earth products. It severely disrupted automobile production and sent ripples through other manufacturing sectors, where assembly lines had to wait on rare-earth magnets to keep components moving.
That episode exposed a vulnerability in the supply chain that is easy to miss. While China accounted for 94% of global permanent-magnet production in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India’s domestic permanent-magnet production capacity remains limited, and imports meet much of its current demand.
