Mumbai, July 13 -- France has pitched deeper industrial and scientific partnerships to support India's ambitions in rare earths, focusing on processing steps rather than primary mining. Gallezot said separation and refining remain the biggest bottlenecks in the rare earth value chain and that mining, processing, recycling and downstream manufacturing should be developed simultaneously rather than sequentially. French companies offer expertise in rare earth separation, refining, metallisation, recycling and magnet manufacturing and will prioritise technologically intensive stages of the value chain.
Beyond industrial collaboration, France is expanding scientific cooperation with India through joint work between the Geological Survey of India and France's BRGM. The two geological surveys will collaborate on artificial intelligence enabled mineral exploration, geological modelling and technologies to recover critical minerals from mine tailings to strengthen domestic resource security and improve exploration efficiency. This technical cooperation is intended to complement commercial partnerships by developing local capabilities across the critical minerals ecosystem.
Gallezot indicated that French firms are interested in participating in India's proposed rare earth industrial corridors through technology partnerships and investments in downstream processing facilities. France is prepared to support critical mineral projects through multiple financing mechanisms, including a €500 million (500 mn euro) critical minerals investment fund able to take equity stakes, government backed loan guarantees linked to French industrial buyers, and development finance institutions such as Agence Francaise de Developpement and Proparco. He added that India and France could also partner on initiatives in third countries as both nations seek to diversify supply chains.
The approach aims at sovereignty through cooperation, with resilient critical mineral supply chains built by international partnerships spanning mining, processing, recycling and manufacturing rather than by resource nationalism alone. The combined industrial, financial and scientific measures are presented as a way to accelerate processing capacity and downstream manufacturing in parallel with mining development. Observers will watch how these bilateral arrangements translate into on the ground investments and technology transfers.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.