Budget 2026: Not yet a gear shift

India’s rare earth policy is entering a decisive phase. With the Union Budget 2026–27 announcing Dedicated Rare Earth Corridors and the government already approving a manufacturing scheme for rare earth permanent magnets, New Delhi is signalling that critical minerals can no longer be treated as peripheral inputs. Rare earths now sit at the centre of India’s ambitions in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and strategic autonomy. The challenge ahead is not geological availability but the ability to build an integrated ecosystem that moves from mining and processing to high-value manufacturing, while aligning domestic capacity with global supply chains.

India’s ease of doing business reforms have moved beyond headline rankings to deeper institutional restructuring. The Union Budget 2026–27 reinforces this shift through tax certainty, digital trade facilitation, and compliance rationalisation, but the real challenge lies in translating procedural simplification into productivity, competitiveness, and sustained enterprise growth.