Knowledge Support for Critical Minerals
TERI has played a central role in advancing India’s critical minerals agenda through its extensive policy, research, and stakeholder engagement contributions. Under the National Critical Mineral Mission, TERI drafted, validated, and finalized the Mission document that was approved by the Cabinet in January 2025. In the area of policy studies and technical contributions, TERI undertook a study on augmenting Extended Producer Responsibility for critical mineral supply chains for the Ministry of Mines, mapping strategic minerals and recycling value chains, reviewing global EPR mandates, identifying best available technologies, and recommending standards on traceability, HS codes, and recycling hubs, while also aligning with international frameworks for secondary raw materials trade. With NITI Aayog, TERI assessed the demand for critical minerals required for India’s energy transition, developing structured methodologies for material intensity calculations, adoption timelines, and comprehensive demand estimations for EV-linked minerals across vehicle categories through 2070, with the final report currently in its concluding stages.
TERI has also strengthened stakeholder platforms by embedding critical minerals in its flagship World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2025, which featured a dedicated thematic track on financing acquisitions and de-risking investments, and by co-organizing the National Seminar on Critical Minerals Processing in June 2025 with the Ministry of Mines and Shakti Sustainable Energy, bringing together government, industry, research, and financial stakeholders to deliberate on processing innovations, recycling, industry-led R&D, and investment models.
On institutional collaborations, TERI serves as a Spoke in the Centre of Excellence for Critical Minerals with NML as the Hub, alongside partners such as Rubamin, Vedanta, IIT-Kharagpur, and IIT-Bhubaneswar, contributing to applied research, recycling frameworks, and skill development. Additionally, TERI is a founding partner of the 3C-SET Consortium supported by NITI Aayog, which provides a collaborative platform for think tanks to address supply resilience, recycling, substitution research, ESG standards, and policy advocacy in the broader context of resource efficiency and energy transition.