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Made in Hyderabad: India Builds Its First Rare Earth Magnet Plant

Can India finally make its own rare earth magnets? See what Hyderabad's first NdFeB plant means for EVs and supply security

9/30/20261 min read

Canyon edge illuminated by sunset light at dusk
Canyon edge illuminated by sunset light at dusk

India's First Rare Earth Magnet Plant Nears Commercial Production in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: India's first sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) rare earth magnet plant is nearing commercial operation in Hyderabad, marking a step toward reducing the country's heavy reliance on imported magnets.

Midwest Energy is setting up the facility with an investment of Rs 250 crore. The plant is currently in trial production and is expected to begin commercial output by mid-October, with an initial capacity of 500 tonnes a year.

The magnets will be used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, smartphones, defence systems and MRI equipment. Sample testing is reportedly under way with several EV and wind-energy companies.

Sources say the plant could eventually replace about 15 to 20 per cent of India's import requirement over the next three to five years, provided capacity expansion plans are carried out. At the initial scale, its magnets are expected to cost roughly 20 to 25 per cent more than Chinese imports.

The project builds on Hyderabad's growing role in the field. A pilot plant for Nd-Fe-B magnets was inaugurated earlier at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology. It covers the process from alloy production to finished magnets and is meant to support industry collaboration and scale-up.

Midwest's earlier plans included a possible ₹1,000 crore investment over three years to raise capacity to around 5,000 tonnes a year. The company said it had secured technology from the Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre in Hyderabad, and that India Rare Earths Limited would supply raw materials.

The push comes after China's export controls on rare earth items caused supply shortages worldwide. In July 2025, Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy said India had been fully dependent on China for rare earth permanent magnets and that the Centre had decided to begin production in Hyderabad.

Reports have differed on commissioning dates, so the mid-October start remains an expectation until production is confirmed.