New Delhi, Feb. 3 -- The Economic Survey 2025-26 urged a comprehensive national policy for critical minerals and rare earth elements (REEs) to reduce import dependence, specifically from China. That became the strategic rationale behind the specific "Rare Earth Corridors" proposed in Union Budget 2026-27.

The survey's recommendations, and the budgetary action that followed, is a reminder of the crucial role of government policy in every major industrial transformation. It's legislative scaffolding behind Silicon Valley's dominance in the US and Shenzhen's electronics supremacy in China. They come at a pivotal moment with the world fragmenting into competing economic blocs and countries racing to secure strategic industries within their b...