In a strategic move to secure critical mineral supply chains and decrease its dependency on China, state-backed miner IREL is engaging in high-level government-channel talks with Russian oil major Rosneft. The negotiations focus on sourcing rare earth samples from Tomtor, located in Siberia’s Yakutia region, which stands as one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth deposits. India plans to process and rigorously analyze the mineral composition of these samples in Russia before committing to deeper infrastructural investments. This outreach is part of India’s broader global strategy to kickstart commercial-scale refining and fulfill its mandate of domestic rare earth magnet manufacturing by 2029-2030, running parallel to ongoing mining explorations in Argentina, Australia, and Malawi.