On June 6, 2025, Union Minister for Coal and Mines, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, inaugurated the Critical Mineral Seminar and launched the NCMM Outreach Forum under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) in New Delhi. The Minister emphasized the strategic importance of critical minerals for India's key sectors and called for collaboration among stakeholders to develop a self-reliant ecosystem. The Outreach Forum aims to foster innovation, investment, and sustainable development in critical mineral processing. Hindustan Copper Limited and RITES Limited signed an MoU to collaborate on securing a sustainable supply chain of critical minerals through exploration, extraction, refining, and production activities. The seminar included technical sessions and policy dialogues focusing on mineral processing technologies, state government initiatives, industry-led refining efforts, financial models, and circular economy approaches. The event facilitated engagement among companies and stakeholders to advance the mining and processing industries in India.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Mines: Indian government ministry responsible for mines and minerals.
Shri G. Kishan Reddy: Union Minister for Coal and Mines of India.
NCMM Outreach Forum: A forum launched under the National Critical Mineral Mission NCMM to foster innovation, attract investments, and promote sustainable development in the critical minerals sector.
National Critical Mineral Mission NCMM: A mission focused on critical minerals for India.
New Delhi: Location of the Critical Mineral Processing seminar.
Indias: Refers to the country India.
ADB: Asian Development Bank, an international financing agency.
World Bank: An international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of poorer countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects.
GoI: Government of India.
Hindustan Copper Limited: A Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Mines.
RITES Limited: A company operating under the Ministry of Railways.
Ministry of Railways: The Indian government ministry responsible for railways.
State Governments: Refers to the governments of the states within India.
lithium: A critical mineral.
nickel: A critical mineral.
graphite: A critical mineral.
Shuhaib T: Name of the person associated with the release of the information (likely a press release).
Ministry of Mines
Union Minister Shri G. Kishan Reddy Inaugurates
Critical Mineral Seminar
Minister Launches NCMM Outreach Forum to Propel
India’s Critical Minerals Ecosystem
Posted On: 06 JUN 2025 7:22PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister for Coal and Mines, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, today inaugurated the Critical Mineral Seminar
and launched the NCMM Outreach Forum under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM). The launch
took place during a national seminar on Critical Mineral Processing held in New Delhi. In his keynote
address, the Minister emphasized the strategic significance of critical minerals for India’s clean energy
transition, defence preparedness, digital economy, and advanced manufacturing sectors. He called for
enhanced collaboration among government agencies, industry, research institutions, and startups to build a
resilient, self-reliant critical minerals ecosystem. Shri Kishan Reddy underlined that the Outreach Forum
would serve as a vital platform to foster innovation, attract investments, and promote sustainable
development, aligning with India’s vision of becoming a global hub for critical mineral processing and
technology.
The Ministry of Mines presented an update on the progress of mission activities, including recent auctions,
centre of excellence scheme, etc. The conference was attended by about 200 delegates, including private/
public companies, State Governments, R&D centres, academia, international financing agencies such as ADB,
World Bank, and GoI agencies.On this occasion, Hindustan Copper Limited, a CPSE under administrative control of the Ministry of Mines
signed an MoU with RITES Limited operating under the Ministry of Railways to secure a rapid, reliable and
sustainable supply chain of metals, minerals including critical minerals by undertaking exploration, extraction,
refining and production activities in India and overseas. Both companies will use their complementary
technical and financial strengths to achieve the goal set out for critical minerals in this MoU.
The seminar featured a series of technical sessions and policy dialogue with participation from senior
policymakers, industry leaders, experts, academic institutions, scientific research institutes and state
government officials. The technical sessions gave the opportunity for research institutes to highlight
innovations in indigenous technologies and efficient solutions for processing low-grade and complex ores.
Leading private sector experts shared ongoing initiatives aimed at developing efficient and sustainable
processing technologies. Also, the state governments highlighted the enabling initiatives taken by them to
facilitate critical mineral processing.Discussions focused on advancements in mineral processing technologies, state government initiatives to
enhance infrastructure and approvals, industry-led refining of critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, and
graphite, innovative financial models to de-risk investments, and building a circular economy through
recycling and extended producer responsibility mechanisms.
The day-long seminar resulted in deeper engagement by companies with all relevant stakeholders to ensure
mining and processing industries within India and for India.
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Shuhaib T
(Release ID: 2134654)