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

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

Critical raw materials form the backbone of supply chains in emerging sectors such as clean energy, electric mobility, electronics, defence, and space. To ensure technological self-reliance, the CoEs will focus on developing, demonstrating, and deploying end-to-end technologies that can reach higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRL 7–8) through pilot-scale and pre-commercial projects.

Each Centre of Excellence will function as a consortium under a Hub-and-Spoke model, pooling the core competencies of its member institutions to strengthen research and innovation in critical minerals. As per the CoE guidelines, each hub institute is required to include at least two industry partners and two R&D or academic collaborators in its network.

The nine recognised CoEs have collectively brought together around 90 partners from academia, industry, and research organisations, creating a nationwide collaborative framework for advancing India’s capability in critical mineral research and technology.