Peru’s rare minerals can boost manufacture of e-vehicles, says envoy in Bengaluru | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: Rare mineral deposits in Peru can help boost India’s IT sector and its shift towards electric vehicles, according to the Latin American nation’s ambassador Javier Manuel Paulinich Velarde. “Peru’s deposits of rare earth elements such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium are vital to India’s push in electric vehicles, wind power, electronics and next-gen IT systems,” said the envoy.At an event in the city Wednesday to celebrate Peru’s 204th Independence Day, he said the long-anticipated India-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is nearing finalisation and could be signed by the end of 2025 or early 2026. “Karnataka and Bangalore are very important in terms of mining and IT. Peru is a mining country, so we can have a complementarity between us,” the ambassador said and added that plans are under way to organise business trips from Bengaluru to his country, focusing on sectors like pharmaceuticals, mining and IT. Honorary consuls There are around 300 Peruvian nationals in India, but it doesn’t have a consulate in the country and instead appoints honorary consuls. Any Indian willing to represent Peru can apply to be an honorary consul and the embassy selects its candidates after a rigorous process involving both Peruvian and Indian authorities. “We interview several candidates, and the state authorities and central govt later review their profiles as this is a very serious business,” the ambassador said. The South American nation has five honorary consuls, including in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.Peru’s honorary consul for Bengaluru Vikram Viswanathan said, “I like what I’m doing. Though we are not at the level of IFS officers, we’re doing some kind of diplomacy between India and Peru.”
