Centre of Excellence on critical minerals and India's first VR mine simulator open at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy on 23 December 2025 inaugurated a Centre of Excellence under the National Critical Minerals Mission and a Virtual Reality Mine Simulator at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Jharkhand.
Summary
Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated a Centre of Excellence (CoE) under the National Critical Minerals Mission and a Virtual Reality Mine Simulator (VRMS) at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Jharkhand, on 23 December 2025. The IIT (ISM) CoE will work on exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and waste-to-wealth for critical minerals, partnering with institutions including the University of Cambridge and St Petersburg University. The VRMS, developed by IIT (ISM) with Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries Northern Coalfields and Eastern Coalfields, is India's first VR-based mine simulator for coal mining safety, with more than 20 training modules.
Key facts
- Date / place
- 23 December 2025, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Jharkhand
- CoE
- Under the National Critical Minerals Mission
- CoE focus
- Exploration, extraction, processing, recycling, waste-to-wealth
- Partners
- University of Cambridge, St Petersburg University
- VRMS
- India's first VR-based mine simulator; 20+ modules
- VRMS developed with
- Coal India Ltd, NCL, ECL
Practice MCQs 2 questions
India's first VR-based mine simulator for coal mining safety, inaugurated in December 2025, was developed by which institute?
Show answer
Correct answer: D — IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
PIB 2207948: the VRMS was developed by IIT (ISM) Dhanbad in collaboration with Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries NCL and ECL.
The Centre of Excellence inaugurated at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad on 23 December 2025 was set up under which mission?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — National Critical Minerals Mission
PIB 2207948: the minister inaugurated the Center of Excellence under the National Critical Minerals Mission hosted in IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.