IREL (India) Limited, the erstwhile Indian Rare Earths Limited was incorporated on August 18,1950, with its first unit Rare Earths Division (RED), Aluva, in Kerala. It became a full-fledged Government of India Undertaking under the administrative control of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in year 1963 and took over companies engaged in mining and separation of Atomic Minerals in southern part of the country at Chavara, Kerala and the other at Manavalakurichi (MK), Tamilnadu.

IREL commissioned its largest flagship Mining & Mineral separation unit Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM) at Chatrapur, Odisha in 1986. Presently IREL has established plant capacity of about 6 lakhs tons per annum of minerals processing to produce processed minerals i.e. Ilmenite, Rutile, Zircon, Sillimanite and Garnet.

IREL has also set up a Rare Earths Extraction Plant at Odisha to produce about 11,000 ton Rare Earth Concentrate in terms of RE Chloride and associated products. A RE refining plant at RED, Aluva is operational to produce High Pure Rare Earths Oxide/Carbonates.

IREL is a profit-making CPSE since 1997-98 with its sales turnover reaching a peak exceeding Rs.14625 million in 2021-22, with an export component of about Rs.7000 million.

IREL is also in the process of facilitating setting up of industries in the value chain of minerals and rare earths, besides expanding its existing mineral producing capacities.

IREL has in house R&D division at Kollam, Kerala to support mineral and chemical operation and Corporate Office at Mumbai, Maharashtra.