NEW DELHI:Â The Ministry of Mines has recognised two more institutes, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Hyderabad, besides seven institutes recognised earlier, as Centres of Excellence (CoE) under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) as per a statement Saturday.
This follows the approval granted by the Project Approval and Advisory Committee (PAAC) in its meeting held on October 24, 2025, under the co-chairmanship of Piyush Goyal, Secretary , Ministry of Mines, and Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology.
Critical raw materials form the crucial supply chain for emerging sectors of clean energy and mobility transi SAVE BIODIVERSITY tion, in addition to advanced technology and strategic sectors like electronics, defence, space, etc.
To develop, demonstrate, and deploy technologies in an end-to-end systems approach, it is essential to conduct R&D to reach higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), including TRL 7/8 for pilot plants and pre-commercial demonstrations.
The CoEs will undertake innovative and transformational research to strengthen and advance the nation’s science and technology capability in the area of critical minerals. Each CoE will operate as a consortium on a Hub and Spoke model to leverage R&D in critical minerals and pool the core competencies of each constituent under one umbrella.
The CoE (Hub Institute) is mandated as per the CoE guidelines to bring in at least two industry partners and at least two R&D/ academic partners in the consortium. The nine recognised CoEs have together brought in around 90 industry and academic/R&D spokespeople.
