How is China putting thousands of jobs in India at risk? Well, China has imposed restrictions on the export of rare-earth metal. According to the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA), China’s restrictions on these elements, including terbium and dysprosium—which are indispensable to the audio electronics industry—have disrupted global supply chains. This has had a deep impact on the Indian hearables and wearables manufacturing industry.
For instance, with stricter regulations on the export licensing for rare-earth elements in China, Indian device makers are now being forced to import speaker modules from China that are already fully assembled. Earlier rare-earth elements were imported from China to produce high-performance NdFeB (Neodymium-Iron-Boron) magnets that are essential in the consumer electronics space. Therefore, local component manufacturing industries are taking a hit in India. There is a growing shift towards importing finished goods, which puts at least 5,000 direct jobs at risk. About 15,000 indirect jobs may also be lost in various regions of southern India as well as Noida.
Given the fact that China supplies 90 per cent of NdFeb magnets to India, export restrictions have also led to a price hike, making these magnets more expensive. Other exporting nations are not in a position to meet the growing demand in India. Also, switching to other nations for supply will not be feasible in terms of costs.
Government intervention has been sought by ELCINA so that rare-earth magnets can be manufactured locally in India itself and make the electronics manufacturing sector self-reliant.
