Union Coal And Mines Minister Inaugurates Critical Mineral Seminar

Union Minister for Coal and Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, today inaugurated the Critical Mineral Seminar and launched the NCMM Outreach Forum under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM). The launch took place during a national seminar on Critical Mineral Processing held in New Delhi.

In his keynote address, the Minister emphasized the strategic significance of critical minerals for India’s clean energy transition, defence preparedness, digital economy, and advanced manufacturing sectors. He called for enhanced collaboration among government agencies, industry, research institutions, and startups to build a resilient, self-reliant critical minerals ecosystem. Kishan Reddy underlined that the Outreach Forum would serve as a vital platform to foster innovation, attract investments, and promote sustainable development, aligning with India’s vision of becoming a global hub for critical mineral processing and technology.

The Ministry of Mines presented an update on the progress of mission activities, including recent auctions, centre of excellence scheme, etc. The conference was attended by about 200 delegates, including private/ public companies, State Governments, R&D centres, academia, international financing agencies such as ADB, World Bank, and GoI agencies.

On this occasion, Hindustan Copper Limited, a CPSU under administrative control of the Ministry of Mines signed an MoU with RITES Limited operating under the Ministry of Railways to secure a rapid, reliable and sustainable supply chain of metals, minerals including critical minerals by undertaking exploration, extraction, refining and production activities in India and overseas. Both companies will use their complementary technical and financial strengths to achieve the goal set out for critical minerals in this MoU.

The seminar featured a series of technical sessions and policy dialogue with participation from senior policymakers, industry leaders, experts, academic institutions, scientific research institutes and state government officials. The technical sessions gave the opportunity for research institutes to highlight innovations in indigenous technologies and efficient solutions for processing low-grade and complex ores. Leading private sector experts shared ongoing initiatives aimed at developing efficient and sustainable processing technologies. Also, the state governments highlighted the enabling initiatives taken by them to facilitate critical mineral processing.

Discussions focused on advancements in mineral processing technologies, state government initiatives to enhance infrastructure and approvals, industry-led refining of critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, and graphite, innovative financial models to de-risk investments, and building a circular economy through recycling and extended producer responsibility mechanisms.

The day-long seminar resulted in deeper engagement by companies with all relevant stakeholders to ensure mining and processing industries within India and for India.