Could BRICS Split Over Critical Minerals? Will India Challenge China’s Rare Earth Monopoly?

Highlights

  • India confronts China’s near-monopoly over critical minerals like rare earth elements and lithium at the 17th BRICS summit.
  • China currently processes 80% of global rare earths and over 60% of the world’s lithium, creating strategic resource dominance.
  • The BRICS bloc risks fracturing over resource nationalism and competing national agendas in the emerging green economy.

India used the 17th BRICS summit to issue a bold challenge to China’s near-monopoly over critical mineral supply chains, demanding transparency, technology-sharing, and an end to resource hoarding. In an opinion column published in the Times of India by Dr. Rashmi Rani Anand (Jawaharlal Nehru University) (opens in a new tab), the geopolitical rift within the BRICS bloc over lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements (REEs) is laid bare — and the implications for investors are profound.

As the world pivots toward green energy, REEs have become indispensable for EVs, wind turbines, semiconductors, and defense systems. Anand notes that China now processes 80% of global rare earths and over 60% of the world’s lithium — a strategic dominance achieved through long-term investments, aggressive mine acquisitions, and technological control over refining.

But India, aiming for industrial self-reliance under its “Atmanirbhar Bharat (opens in a new tab)” vision, finds itself on the wrong end of this imbalance. Despite efforts to secure overseas assets and form strategic partnerships, India still lacks access to key refining technologies and long-term supply contracts. At the BRICS summit, India called for an “inclusive framework for critical mineral governance” — a clear swipe at China’s resource leverage.

This friction exposes a deeper identity crisis for BRICS.

Once a bloc for South-South solidarity, the expanded BRICS (now 10 members) increasingly reflects divergent national agendas. Anand warns that if China continues to treat REEs as a geopolitical cudgel, BRICS risks becoming another arena for resource imperialism rather than cooperation.

Key Investor Questions

  • Can India realistically challenge China’s rare earth dominance without domestic refining and processing breakthroughs?
  • Will BRICS evolve into a cooperative alternative to Western-led supply chains, or fracture under resource nationalism, competition, and a race to the top as India itself emerges as one of the world’s largest economies?
  • Could India’s stance catalyze new alliances (e.g., with the U.S., Japan, or Australia) to develop non-Chinese REE infrastructure? Notes from talks with experts in the field suggest this would pose challenges on a number of fronts.

Dr. Rashmi Rani Anand, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Rashmi Rani Anand | Welcome to Jawaharlal Nehru University
Source: Jawaharlal Nehru University

For investors, Anand’s column is a reminder that the rare earth story is no longer just about deposits — it’s about diplomacy, sovereignty, and whose rules will govern the green economy. Watch for new policies from India to spur refining tech partnerships, fast-track exploration, and position itself as a regional REE hub.

Source: “BRICS at a crossroads and the struggle for equitable cooperation” by Dr. Rashmi Rani Anand, The Times of India, (opens in a new tab) July 12, 2025.

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