Mines Ministry recognises seven Centres of Excellence under National Critical Mineral Mission
The Ministry of Mines on 1 August 2025 recognised four IITs and three R&D labs as Centres of Excellence under the National Critical Mineral Mission to promote research across the critical mineral value chain.
Summary
The Ministry of Mines recognised seven institutes, four IITs and three R&D labs, as Centres of Excellence (CoEs) under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), it announced on 1 August 2025. The decision followed approval by the Project Approval and Advisory Committee on 31 July 2025, co-chaired by Mines Secretary V.L. Kantha Rao and DST Secretary Abhay Karandikar. The CoEs are IIT Bombay, IIT Hyderabad, IIT-ISM Dhanbad, IIT Roorkee, CSIR-IMMT Bhubaneswar, CSIR-NML Jamshedpur and NFTDC Hyderabad. Each CoE will work as a consortium on a Hub & Spoke model, and together they have brought in around 80 industry and academic or R&D spokes, with the aim of taking technologies to pilot-plant and pre-commercial levels (TRL 7/8).
Key facts
- Mission
- National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM)
- CoEs recognised
- Seven: 4 IITs, 3 R&D labs
- Approval
- PAAC meeting, 31 Jul 2025
- IITs
- Bombay, Hyderabad, ISM Dhanbad, Roorkee
- Labs
- CSIR-IMMT Bhubaneswar, CSIR-NML Jamshedpur, NFTDC Hyderabad
- Model
- Hub & Spoke; about 80 spokes
Practice MCQs 2 questions
Which of the following was NOT among the Centres of Excellence recognised under the National Critical Mineral Mission in August 2025?
Show answer
Correct answer: D — IIT Madras
IIT Madras is not in the list. The four recognised IITs are those at Bombay, Hyderabad, Roorkee and the ISM campus in Dhanbad, along with CSIR-IMMT, CSIR-NML and NFTDC.
On which model will each Centre of Excellence under the National Critical Mineral Mission operate as a consortium?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — Hub & Spoke model
Each CoE will operate as a consortium on a Hub & Spoke model, with the hub institute bringing in industry and R&D or academic partners.