In a move that could ease supply bottlenecks for India’s manufacturing sector, three domestic companies have received the country’s first licences to import rare earth magnets from China, according to a report by CNBC-TV18. The Indian companies to get the nod are Continental India, Hitachi and Jay Ushin, the report stated.

Rare earth magnets are vital to technologies ranging from electric vehicles and wind turbines to smartphones and military systems. However, China’s near-total dominance, controlling about 90% of global production and processing, has long been a geopolitical flashpoint, especially amid ongoing US-China trade tensions.

The approvals reportedly came with a restriction that the imported materials cannot be exported to the US or used for defence-related purposes. The finer

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