Today my guest is Pranay Kotasthane who is the deputy director of the Takshashila Institution and chairs the High Tech Geopolitics Programme.

Pranay co-writes Anticipating the Unintended, a newsletter on public policy ideas and frameworks, and co-hosts Puliyabaazi, a popular Hindi-Urdu podcast on politics, policy, and technology. He is the co-author of - Missing in Action: Why Should You Care About Public Policy, When the Chips are Down, and the graphic nonfiction narrative We, the Citizens.

We spoke about rare earths and critical minerals, China's dominance, the gap between India's ambitions and opportunities, the potential for recycling, and much and more.

Recorded February 2nd, 2026.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - 1991 Fellowship
(00:01:11) - Intro
(00:02:59) - Rare Earths versus Critical Minerals
(00:10:15) - Why Are Rare Earths and Critical Minerals So Important Now?
(00:29:29) - Geopolitical Uncertainty
(00:33:14) - China's Process Advantage
(00:44:10) - Industrial Policy
(00:48:10) - India's Critical Elements Mission
(00:53:00) - Auctions
(00:56:53) - India's Position in the Value Chain
(01:04:36) - Recycling
(01:34:04) - Law of One Price
(01:41:28) - Pakistan and Rare Earth Reserves
(01:46:26) - Outro