IIT Hyderabad And Monash Join Forces For Mineral Sustainability

The Australia-India Critical Minerals Research Hub (AICMRH) has been approved by India’s Ministry of Education (MoE) to provide advice on critical minerals extraction and processing, criticality assessments, economic geology, sustainable mining practices and supply chain analyses. 

The MoE and the Government of India have formed an Empowered Committee for Industry and International Collaborations (ECIIC). Critical minerals have been chosen as one of the 12 themes on which ECIIC would focus and IIT Hyderabad has been asked by the MoE to lead the country on this theme.  

A Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) proposal, led by IIT Hyderabad and Monash University has brought together various Indian and Australian Universities, R&D labs and industries in the field of critical minerals. This has been sanctioned by MoE recently with funding of $1.15m and is expected to strengthen India-Australia collaborations in the field of critical minerals. 

The collaboration aims to develop skills and talent to drive a transition towards sustainable resource management by following the G20's commitment to diversify supply chains for energy transitions. The two countries could also work together for carbon capture storage and utilisation, coal preparation upgrading and fugitive emissions from coal mining. 

The AICMRH is an alignment with India's National Education Policy and the Australian Researcher Cooperation Hub (ARCH-India) of the Australian Government Department of Education. It also resonates with India's National Education Policies on promoting research collaborations. 

The AICMRH aims to develop pioneering technologies for a competitive and environmentally sustainable future, playing a vital role in supporting the objectives outlined in India's National Education Policy and the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration. 

There are plans to expand into the Indo-Pacific region by including researchers from other countries in the region.