Jakarta. Steel-making India has secured access to Indonesian critical minerals as both countries forged some major deals during its prime minister Narendra Modi’s Jakarta visit on Tuesday. 

New Delhi has been seeking to diversify its mineral supply chains in an attempt to tone down its reliance on Chinese supplies. And three out of the dozen memoranda of understanding (MoUs) from Modi’s talks with President Prabowo Subianto were related to minerals. 

One document zeroed in on working together on “minerals and technologies for the steel supply chain”. Steel Authority of India and Krakatau Steel — both state-owned entities — also agreed to set up a joint venture of an undisclosed value. There was an MoU between Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre (NFTDC), Midwest, and the nascent Perusahaan Mineral Nasional.

“In today’s world, the supply chain resilience of technology is of great importance,” Modi told the joint news conference, speaking via an interpreter.

"We are now seeing a new beginning in partnerships between our companies regarding stainless steel and rare-earth magnets."

Prabowo made no direct mention of the steel deal, but viewed “economic ties as a key pillar in bilateral ties”. To this end, Indonesia hopes to speed up the negotiations on a “preferential trade agreement” (PTA) with India, according to Prabowo. A PTA typically enables lower tariffs for certain goods. However, it is unclear whether any PTA struck between the two BRICS economies would cover processed minerals or even stainless steel.

Indonesia-India trade rose 3.80% year-on-year to $9.6 billion in the first five months of 2026. Annual trade neared $23.2 billion in 2025, government data showed. Investment inflows from India into Indonesia came in at $237.6 million last year, although the statistics did not state to which sector the money had flowed. 

Indonesia commands the world’s largest reserves of nickel, the silvery-white metal key in steel production, reaching a whopping 62 million metric tons. Jakarta, however, has stopped exporting raw nickel ores and is limiting shipments to processed goods for a greater economic boost. Jakarta, however, is open to foreign partners that wish to set up factories. India is the world’s second-leading steel producer after China. Its annual steel output is reportedly around 163 million tons.

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