Delhi, 25 October (H.S.): The Ministry of Mines on Friday announced a significant expansion of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) by designating two more institutions as Centres of Excellence (CoE). The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Hyderabad, will join seven other institutes previously recognized under this initiative.

The decision was formalized following approval from the Project Approval and Advisory Committee (PAAC) in a meeting held on Friday, co-chaired by Ministry of Mines Secretary Piyush Goyal and Department of Science & Technology Secretary Prof. Abhay Karandikar.

This expansion is aimed at bolstering the nation's research and development capabilities in the critical minerals sector.Critical raw materials are foundational to the supply chains for emerging clean energy and mobility technologies, as well as for strategic sectors like electronics, defense, and aerospace.

The CoEs are tasked with conducting innovative research to advance indigenous science and technology for the entire mineral value chain, from exploration to end-use. The primary goal is to elevate technologies to higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), specifically to pilot plant and pre-commercial demonstration stages.

Each CoE will operate as a consortium using a Hub & Spoke model, which pools the core competencies of various constituent members. Under this framework, each hub institute is mandated to partner with at least two industry entities and two academic or R&D institutions.

The nine recognized CoEs have collectively brought together a formidable network of approximately 90 industry and academic partners to drive progress in this vital field.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar