Telangana plans tripartite pact for critical minerals research
Telangana is planning a tripartite collaboration with Monash University, IIT Hyderabad and SCCL to boost critical minerals research and commercial tech.
The Telangana government is moving to establish a long-term research partnership focused on critical minerals and advanced mineral technologies. The proposed collaboration brings together Monash University in Melbourne, the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, and the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
Deputy Chief Minister M. Bhatti Vikramarka met with Monash University's Dean of Engineering, Prof. Yannis Ventikos, along with senior officials from SCCL and IIT Hyderabad on Tuesday. The discussions centred on accelerating research in the critical minerals sector through a joint effort.
Vikramarka noted that the growing renewable energy push has sharply increased the importance of critical minerals. He said Telangana should not remain a mere consumer of these resources but should become a key player across the entire value chain — from exploration to end-use applications.
The Deputy Chief Minister urged that the academic collaboration go beyond pure research. He called for developing technologies that can be scaled for commercial use, and asked officials to prepare an action plan at the earliest. He assured full government support to turn Telangana into a hub for critical minerals research and innovation.
He also stressed strengthening the Centre of Excellence at IIT Hyderabad, envisioning it as a platform for advanced research and technological development. The partnership is expected to cover mineral exploration, extraction, processing, refining, and methods to recover critical minerals from waste.
Such a collaboration, officials said, would help address raw material shortages in sectors like renewable energy, electric vehicles, battery storage, and electronics. The meeting was also attended by D. Krishna Bhaskar, Special Secretary to the Deputy Chief Minister and CMD of TG-Transco, along with Prof. Mohan Yellishetty and Prof. Raman Singh, founders of the Australia–India Critical Minerals Research Hub.
In a separate development, the Deputy Chief Minister handed over a cheque of ₹1 crore as accident insurance claim to Boda Swathi, wife of B. Shankar Reddy, a Grade-II employee who died in an accident while on duty at the Huzurabad 132/11 KV substation on October 1 last year.