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Relevance: GS Paper I — Natural Resources; GS Paper III — Science & Technology, Critical Minerals Source: Reuters / SCMP, July 2026

1 · What happened

On 10 July 2026, China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs banned all exports of helium with immediate effect. There is no expiry date, no country exemption, and no relief even for existing contracts.

The odd part is that China is not a big producer. It makes only about 1.6% of the world’s helium and imports more than 80% of what it uses. The ban is therefore a defensive step, meant to save scarce stock for its own chip and hospital sectors after the Iran conflict shut Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility.

2 · What Makes Helium So Special

Helium is the second lightest element after hydrogen. It cannot be manufactured. It forms deep inside the Earth’s crust when uranium and thorium decay radioactively. Over millions of years it collects in pockets along with natural gas, and is pulled out as a by-product of natural gas processing. Extraction pays only if the gas contains at least 0.3% helium.

The Science
Why Nothing Else Works
Boiling point of -269°C, the lowest of any element. It is chemically inert. So it is the only substance that stays liquid near absolute zero without reacting with anything around it.
Where It Is Used
Chips, MRI, Rockets
Semiconductors and quantum computing (17%): cools silicon wafers and qubits. MRI machines (15%): chills superconducting magnets. Aerospace (9%): pushes fuel into rocket engines. Leak detection (5%).
Supply Bottleneck
Hard to Store, Easy to Lose
A purification plant costs over $100 million. Salt-cavern storage crosses $200 million. Liquid helium must travel in special vacuum-jacketed cryogenic vessels, and it slowly boils off. Once it escapes, it leaves Earth’s gravity for good.
The Chokepoint
Hormuz Squeeze
Qatar supplies about one-third of world helium, and its shipments must cross the Strait of Hormuz. Russia has cut Asian quotas to 40% of 2025 levels till end-2027. Spot prices in Northeast Asia doubled to $150-205 per thousand cubic feet.

  • Who produces it: The United States (about 43%) is the largest supplier, followed by Qatar (about 33%), then Russia, Canada and Algeria. Production is unusually concentrated.
  • The US pulled back its safety net: In 2024, the US privatised its Federal Helium Reserve, selling it to the Messer Group. Washington no longer holds a public buffer stock to steady the market during a shock.
  • India’s position: India has no commercial helium plant and imports its entire requirement, mainly from the USA and Qatar. A Hormuz disruption directly affects ISRO (which uses helium to push liquid propellants into rocket engines), DRDO, and the Department of Atomic Energy.
  • India’s hidden potential: Indian natural gas is poor in helium, but the granite rocks below several geothermal zones are rich in uranium and thorium. Hot springs in the Bakreswar-Tantloi area of the Son-Narmada-Tapi (SONATA) zone show high helium content, offering an unconventional extraction route.
  • Policy link: Securing helium fits the goals of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), launched in 2025, which aims to reduce India’s dependence on imported strategic inputs.

UPSC Value Box
Helium Noble gas, atomic number 2. Second lightest element. Non-renewable. Boiling point -269°C. Commercial use needs purity of at least 99.997%.
Origin of Helium Formed by radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, which emit alpha particles. An alpha particle that gains two electrons becomes a helium atom.
Cryogenics Science of very low temperatures. Liquid helium is the standard coolant for superconducting magnets used in MRI machines and particle accelerators such as CERN’s LHC.
Ras Laffan Qatar’s giant LNG and helium complex. Its disruption during the Iran conflict is the direct cause of the current global helium shortage.
Federal Helium Reserve US strategic helium stockpile near Amarillo, Texas, created in 1925. Privatised in 2024 and sold to the Messer Group, ending the US role as a global shock absorber.
SONATA Zone Son-Narmada-Tapi lineament, a major geothermal province in central India. Its granite basement is rich in radioactive minerals, making local hot springs helium-bearing.
NCMM National Critical Mineral Mission, launched in 2025 under the Ministry of Mines. Covers 30 critical minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earths, focusing on exploration, recycling and overseas acquisition.
Neon Precedent During the Ukraine war, neon supply for chip lithography collapsed because Ukraine supplied about half the world’s semiconductor-grade neon. The helium ban follows the same pattern.

MCQ Practice Question
Q. With reference to helium, consider the following statements:

  1. It is formed in the Earth’s crust through the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, and is commercially extracted as a by-product of natural gas processing.
  2. China, which imposed a temporary helium export ban in July 2026, is the world’s largest producer of helium, accounting for over 40% of global output.
  3. Helium is used to cool the superconducting magnets in MRI machines because it remains liquid at temperatures close to absolute zero.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only    (b) 2 and 3 only    (c) 1 and 3 only    (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

  • Statement 1 — Correct: Helium forms from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium in the crust, collects in natural gas reservoirs, and is separated during gas processing. It cannot be manufactured artificially.
  • Statement 2 — Incorrect (the trap, swapped country): China produces only about 1.6% of world helium and imports over 80% of its own needs. The largest producer is the United States (about 43%), followed by Qatar (about 33%). China banned exports precisely because it is short of helium, not because it is rich in it.
  • Statement 3 — Correct: Liquid helium, with a boiling point of -269°C, is the only practical coolant that stays liquid near absolute zero. MRI machines depend on it to keep their superconducting magnets working.
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