August 18, 2025

Electric vehicle makers in India are feeling the heat as China tightens export rules on rare earth magnets, essential for EV motors. But fear not, these companies are cooking up smart fixes! TVS Motor's big boss, K N Radhakrishnan, said, “Short term, we are managing with the stocks what we have. We also resized some higher sized magnets, which are locally available. We are also exploring some alternate strategies in the short term... currently, we are managing the daily production. We are just able to manage like that.” It’s like reshuffling the puzzle pieces to keep the production lines moving smoothly. Similarly, Ather Energy warned that retail sales might fall because of low stock. But CEO Tarun Mehta shared a plan full of spice: partially assembling motors in China to dodge direct magnet imports, switching to magnets that don’t use heavy rare earths, and even moving to ferrite-based motors that need no rare earth metals at all! Hero MotoCorp’s acting CEO Vikram Kasbekar chimed in, “As far as the rare earth metal is concerned, it is an industry-wide phenomenon. It is a challenge, no doubt about that... we are covered for the Q2 FY26 for both ICE and EV and we continue to work on alternatives, and we will try and see that we circumvent the problem.” However, away from the buzzing factories, the government is still in the dark about how much magnet stock these EV makers really have. The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) even sent a red alert last month, asking OEMs to disclose their inventories. But guess what? No takers! Because of this radio silence, MHI hit the pause button on subsidies to these companies under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and the Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE). A senior MHI official told businessline, “They have not shared their sources with us yet.” Until the true magnet shortage is clear, subsidy wheels won’t start turning again. Meanwhile, Indian officials are not just waiting around; they’re digging for solutions. “We are also finding ways and means by which the supply chain does not get impacted. Efforts are on,” said a senior government source. To sweeten the deal for buyers and makers alike, the Centre earmarked a whopping ₹1,345 crore to boost rare earth magnet production inside India. This big move aims to help convert rare earth oxides right here into magnets and cut the country’s dependence on China. Will this masaledar mix of action recipes help India’s EV dream race ahead? Stay tuned!

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Tags: Ev makers, Rare earth magnets, China export restrictions, Motor production, India government, Pm e-drive,