IISc and C-MET named Centres of Excellence in critical minerals

28 Oct 2025 CW Team

The decision was approved by the Project Approval and Advisory Committee (PAAC) during its meeting on 24 October 2025, co-chaired by Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, and Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology.

Advancing India’s Critical Mineral Capabilities

Critical raw materials play a vital role in the supply chains of emerging sectors such as clean energy, electric mobility, advanced technology, defence, space, and electronics. To strengthen India’s self-reliance in these areas, the Centres of Excellence will focus on research and development (R&D) aimed at achieving higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRL 7/8) through pilot plant and pre-commercial demonstrations.

The CoEs will pursue innovative and transformational research to enhance India’s science and technology capabilities in the critical minerals domain — a key step in ensuring secure and sustainable access to essential materials.

Hub-and-Spoke Collaboration Model

Each CoE will operate under a Hub and Spoke model, bringing together the core competencies of its consortium members under one framework. As per the CoE guidelines, the hub institute must include at least two industry partners and two R&D or academic institutions as spokes.

Collectively, the nine Centres of Excellence have onboarded around 90 industry, academic, and research partners, reflecting strong collaboration between the government, industry, and scientific community.

The initiative is a key part of India’s strategy to build an integrated value chain for critical minerals — from exploration and extraction to processing and recycling — thereby supporting the nation’s clean energy transition and strategic technology development.

The Ministry of Mines has recognised two additional institutes — the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Hyderabad — as Centres of Excellence (CoE) under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM). This brings the total number of recognised CoEs to nine. The decision was approved by the Project Approval and Advisory Committee (PAAC) during its meeting on 24 October 2025, co-chaired by Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, and Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology. Advancing India’s Critical Mineral Capabilities Critical raw materials play a vital role in the supply chains of emerging sectors such as clean energy, electric mobility, advanced technology, defence, space, and electronics. To strengthen India’s self-reliance in these areas, the Centres of Excellence will focus on research and development (R&D) aimed at achieving higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRL 7/8) through pilot plant and pre-commercial demonstrations. The CoEs will pursue innovative and transformational research to enhance India’s science and technology capabilities in the critical minerals domain — a key step in ensuring secure and sustainable access to essential materials. Hub-and-Spoke Collaboration Model Each CoE will operate under a Hub and Spoke model, bringing together the core competencies of its consortium members under one framework. As per the CoE guidelines, the hub institute must include at least two industry partners and two R&D or academic institutions as spokes. Collectively, the nine Centres of Excellence have onboarded around 90 industry, academic, and research partners, reflecting strong collaboration between the government, industry, and scientific community. The initiative is a key part of India’s strategy to build an integrated value chain for critical minerals — from exploration and extraction to processing and recycling — thereby supporting the nation’s clean energy transition and strategic technology development.

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