Indian Economy News

Government launches US$ 23.7 million research programme for critical minerals

The government has launched a Rs. 210 crore (US$ 23.7 million), three-year research programme for critical raw materials, to be implemented by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines. Only nine pre-selected Centres of Excellence can apply, and each proposal must be submitted as a consortium. A Centre of Excellence will lead every consortium and must include a minimum of two academic partners and two industry partners specialising in critical minerals, materials science, geology, mining, or metallurgy. The participating Centres of Excellence include Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT Hyderabad, Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad, IIT Roorkee, Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology Bhubaneswar, National Metallurgical Laboratory Jamshedpur, Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Center Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, and Centre of Materials for Electronics and Technology Hyderabad.
Projects must identify one specific industry problem and present a clear roadmap to progress research from an early Technology Readiness Level of at least two to a deployable technology. Funding will be released based on the achievement of annual milestones, and industry partners are required to contribute 10% of the project cost in cash. The programme will support research across the entire critical minerals value chain, including exploration, mineral processing, extraction technologies, recovery from mine waste, and recycling. This initiative aims to accelerate domestic capability building, strengthen supply chain resilience, and advance India’s long-term strategy for securing critical minerals.

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