Indonesia and India Forge Cooperation on Rare Earth Mineral Downstreaming

The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Brian Yuliarto, has explained the nature of Indonesia’s cooperation with India regarding the purification of rare earth minerals.

Previously, following a meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 16 cooperation agreements were signed. One of these includes a Memorandum of Understanding between the Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre, MIDWEST Ltd., and PT Perusahaan Mineral Nasional (Perminas).

“We are currently exploring technological cooperation for downstreaming, specifically for the separation and purification of rare earths,” said Brian at the Palace Complex on Tuesday (7/7/2026).

Brian explained that Indonesia has dispatched teams from Perminas and the Mineral Industry Agency (BIM) to India on several occasions. However, the concrete details of the cooperation have not yet been disclosed as it remains in the exploratory stage. It was noted that there are two planned downstreaming projects, namely a magnet industry and a purification plant.

“Discussions have already taken place. India possesses the technology for rare earth purification and is also offering technology for the development of the magnet industry,” he stated.

“We are currently investigating how this will work, as we hope to build both a magnet industry and a rare earth purification facility in collaboration with India,” he added.

Brian emphasised that the ultimate goal of this cooperation is the construction of factories in Indonesia. However, the specific structure of the partnership is still being discussed.

“We will certainly build industrial plants in Indonesia; we are just currently discussing the exact nature of the cooperation,” said the Head of the Mineral Industry Agency.