This co-operation includes establishing an observatory to monitor supply chains and material flows of critical minerals from mines to electric vehicles.
The partnership was announced after the UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, visited India to recognise the strengthening partnership between the two countries and which saw the launch of the UK-India Technology Security Initiative.
This initiative builds upon the ambitious agenda set out in the India-UK Roadmap 2030 and will enhance collaboration between the two countries in critical and emerging technologies across priority sectors including advanced materials, semiconductors, and critical minerals.
Critical minerals – like lithium, copper, nickel, and cobalt – are crucial for modern technology and the global economy, particularly in high-tech industries and clean energy. They’re essential for bolstering national security, global competitiveness, industrial resilience, and sustainability. The UK and India have both recognised that urgent action is required to ensure responsible mining, refining and recycling of critical minerals to enable the transition to net zero.
Together with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IfM will establish an observatory to facilitate collaboration among leading academics, innovators, and industry by sharing supply chain data.
The observatory will look to create an industrial data infrastructure for the UK and India that will enable the identification of risks, opportunities for recycling, and areas with shortages. It will offer recommendations to strengthen global supply chains and minimise disruptions in both the UK and India. Additionally, it aims to test new technologies, like personalised AI, to ensure stable supply chains and promote trade between the two countries. Lastly, it will improve critical minerals capabilities through increasing knowledge sharing around extraction and refining.
CPI’s role in the partnership is to identify industrial challenges and launch an Innovation Sprint programme to find greener ways to extract and purify critical minerals by developing new manufacturing technologies.
Professor Tim Minshall, Head of IfM, said, “Given the global challenges related to critical minerals affecting all nations, this programme is extremely important and timely. This observatory will play a key role in ensuring that technological innovation can be achieved in a way that is resilient, secure and sustainable. We are delighted that this programme is being taken forward as an international partnership, reflecting the fact that addressing critical mineral challenges requires an international approach.”
Commenting Dr Mukesh Kumar, Head of IfM’s Industrial Resilience Group, added, " By building the largest data infrastructure for critical minerals, we aim to identify supply chain vulnerabilities, enhance capabilities, and promote ESG and sustainability.
“We are guided by Prof. Swaminathan Sivaram of the Indian National Science Academy and IISER Pune in shaping the UK-India joint policy on critical mineral supply chains, focusing on data-driven decision-making, technological innovation, sustainability, and trade facilitation. We are partnering with Google Cloud, which provides cloud and AI technology support, and Prof. Ramaswamy Murugavel of IIT Bombay, whose expertise in materials chemistry will help us drive innovation and resilience in critical mineral supply chains, strengthening the UK-India partnership in this crucial field, which is vital for the green energy transition and digital transformation."
