Ahmedabad: Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. (GMDC) has entered into a strategic collaboration with the University of Cambridge to establish a dedicated Rare Earth Observatory at GMDC’s International Centre of Excellence in Mining (iCEM). Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Observatory will deliver a first-of-its-kind interactive intelligence platform that tracks the entire Rare Earth Elements (REE) value chain in real time, from mine to magnet, covering price movements, processing capacity, supply disruptions, and geopolitical risks across global REE supply chains.

The initiative brings together GMDC’s ground-level mining expertise and the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), whose Industrial Resilience Group is internationally recognised for its work in critical mineral supply chains, ESG integration, and AI-driven industrial analytics. Structured as a phased two-year programme with an investment of £600,000, the collaboration aims to develop scalable and operationally deployable intelligence tools, positioning Gujarat and India at the forefront of rare earth supply chain resilience.

As per an official release, with India’s rare earth permanent magnet (REPM) consumption projected to double by 2030, driven by the growing demand from electric vehicles, renewable energy, and defence sectors, actionable real-time supply chain intelligence has become a national strategic priority. The Rare Earth Observatory seeks to address this gap by providing an evidence-based platform for policy formulation, industrial procurement, and strategic stockpiling decisions.

Through iCEM, an organisation supported by GMDC, the partnership will provide access to Cambridge’s advanced research tools and global network, integrating world-class analytical capabilities with on-ground Indian mining operations.

Speaking on the occasion, Roopwant Singh, IAS, Managing Director of GMDC, said, “Rare earth elements are not merely a commodity story; they are a sovereignty story. The Observatory we are building with the University of Cambridge is GMDC’s contribution to addressing this national challenge by creating an AI-driven intelligence architecture for the REE value chain that India has never had before. By integrating Cambridge’s world-class research capabilities with iCEM’s operational expertise, we are not merely scaling our existing operations; we are building the strategic capabilities that the nation urgently needs.” DeshGujarat