New Delhi: The Critical & Strategic Minerals Committee constituted by NITI Aayog convened a national-level meeting on Monday at TEXMiN, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, to deliberate on India’s strategy for securing critical and strategic minerals across the value chain.
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The meeting, chaired by Prof DK Singh, was organised under the PAIR project of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad and the CoRE-MiN Centre of Excellence on Critical Raw Materials (NCMM). It brought together senior officials from NITI Aayog, central public sector undertakings (PSUs), research institutions and industry.
Participants discussed priorities around technology development, domestic capability building and supply-chain resilience for critical minerals. The agenda centred on coordinated action among government, academia, R&D institutions and industry to develop indigenous technologies spanning exploration, beneficiation, utilisation and recycling.
IIT (ISM) Dhanbad Director Prof Sukumar Mishra highlighted the institute’s role in research, technology development and policy support related to critical minerals.
Briefing the committee, Prof Dheeraj Kumar, Deputy Director, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad and Project Director, TEXMiN, outlined ongoing and planned initiatives, including the PAIR-B project supported by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, TEXMiN, the Technology Translation Research Park established by the Department of Science & Technology, and the CoRE-MiN Centre of Excellence supported by the Ministry of Mines.
Setting the agenda, R Saravanabhavan, Deputy Adviser (Minerals), NITI Aayog, emphasised the need for coordinated efforts among government, academia, R&D institutions, and industry to develop indigenous technologies spanning exploration, beneficiation, utilisation, and recycling of critical minerals.
During the deliberations, Dr Ramanuj Narayan, Director, CSIR-IMMT Bhubaneswar, and Dr K Ramesha, Director, CSIR-CECRI, shared updates on research in mineral processing, advanced materials, and recycling of critical and strategic minerals.
PSU participation included inputs from Coal India Limited (CIL). Asheesh Kumar, Director (Business Development), CIL, highlighted opportunities for recovering rare earth elements and other critical minerals from coal mine waste, overburden, and fly ash.
The committee includes representatives from NITI Aayog, CSIR-IMMT, CSIR-CECRI, CIL, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Neyveli Lignite Corporation of India Limited (NLCIL), the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Coal, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, IPCPA and CII. Faculty members from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad working on critical minerals, rare earth extraction, beneficiation, processing and recycling also participated.
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"The meeting underscored the strategic role of critical minerals in India’s clean energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and national security, while highlighting the importance of strengthening domestic research and technology capabilities," NITI Aayog said in a statement.