Russia, India discussing promising rare earth metals projects, including in Murmansk region - Russian first deputy PM

MOSCOW. Sept. 9 (Interfax) - Cooperation in rare and rare earth metals is an "extremely relevant" topic in bilateral relations between Russia and India, with the countries discussing various options for joint projects, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said in an interview with Interfax ahead of the Innoprom.India exhibition.

"Cooperation in rare and rare earth metals the mining and processing is a relatively new, but extremely relevant topic on our bilateral industrial agenda with India. Dialog is underway both on promising projects in the Murmansk region and on other initiatives," he said.

Manturov said a separate session would be dedicated to rare earth metals within the Innoprom framework.

Russia and India want to deepen cooperation in the field of rare earth elements and critical minerals, according to a joint declaration of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted following the Russia-India summit. Recognizing the strategic importance of critical minerals for new technologies and advanced manufacturing, the sides expressed interest in deepening cooperation in the field of technologies for the exploration, processing and refining of critical minerals and rare earth elements, the declaration said.

The Giredmet Institute, a Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation subsidiary, signed several memorandums of understanding and agreements with international partners in the rare earth metals sector during the Redmet-2026 congress in May. They include a memorandum with the Indian company Nexon Geochem Private Limited. It focuses on joint research and development of technologies for the deep processing of REM raw materials. The parties intend to implement full-cycle projects, from the production of high-purity metals and compounds to the manufacture of materials for the electronics, chemical, and nuclear industries.

A memorandum of understanding was signed with the Indian Technology Innovation in Exploration & Mining Foundation (TEXMiN). This memorandum provides for joint research and development of technologies for the production of rare-earth permanent magnets neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB), including the full metallurgical cycle, pilot validation of Giredmet's technologies at the TEXMiN site, and projects to extract rare-earth elements from tailings dams, old waste dumps and spent magnets.