IIT (ISM) Dhanbad Launches Critical Minerals Centre Under National Mission

Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad has now inaugurated a Centre of Research Excellence in Mining and Innovation for Critical Materials (CoRE-MiN), a government-recognised centre under India’s National Critical Mineral Mission, the institute said.

The centre has been set up in collaboration with TEXMiN, a technology translation research park supported by the Department of Science and Technology, and operates under the Ministry of Mines’ national programme to strengthen domestic capabilities across the critical minerals value chain.

CoRE-MiN was inaugurated by Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy at the IIT (ISM) Dhanbad campus, in the presence of Coal India chairman B. Sairam and the institute’s director Sukumar Mishra.

The launch marks the operationalisation of one of nine centres of excellence approved under the mission, which aims to reduce India’s dependence on imports of minerals critical for clean energy, electric mobility, electronics and defence.

The centre will focus on areas such as artificial intelligence-enabled mineral exploration, digital characterisation of rock cores, traceability of critical raw materials, and advanced beneficiation and recycling technologies, the institute said.

CoRE-MiN brings together academic partners including IIT Gandhinagar, IIT BHU, Curtin University, the University of Cambridge and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, alongside industry participants such as Hindustan Copper, MOIL, Odisha Mining Corporation and Jindal Steel, to support pilot projects and technology deployment.

“Its objective is to translate high-quality research into deployable technologies and support India’s goal of self-reliance in critical minerals,” Mishra said in a statement.

India has stepped up efforts to secure supply chains for critical minerals as part of its broader clean energy and industrial strategy, with the National Critical Mineral Mission serving as a key policy instrument.