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Thematic Areas

Critical Minerals & Circular Economy

India’s energy transition hinges on secure, sustainable, and equitable access to critical minerals essential for technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, hydrogen, and other low- carbon systems.

Global supply chains are fragile, ecologically sensitive, and socially contested. There is a rising need for a system-oriented approach that holistically integrates academic inquiry, policy development, and industry engagement. Such an approach will address the complex challenges associated with critical minerals, guided by circular economy principles, and responsible mineral strategies.

ACPET is uniquely positioned to catalyze this agenda by producing interdisciplinary knowledge, informing evidence-based policy, and convening a multi-stakeholder platform that includes government, academia, industry, and civil society. This vertical serves as an enabler of innovation, policy intelligence, and capacity-building, helping India navigate the twin transitions of energy and materials in a globally responsible manner.

Vision
Our vision is to strengthen India’s position as a secure, sustainable, and collaborative economy in the field of mineral and materials supply chains and support India’s emergence as a global leader in responsible mining and resource use.

Objective

To drive transformative research, capacity building, and stakeholder collaboration on critical minerals and circular economy for a just, inclusive, and sustainable energy transition in India and the Global South.

Our aim is to serve as a knowledge partner that advances science, policy, and community- driven solutions to address the rising demand for critical minerals, their sustainable extraction, and responsible utilization while fostering collaborations across industry, academia, civil society, and government.

Our strategic pillars include:

  • Advancing Evidence-Driven Policy Research: To generate high-quality interdisciplinary research on the demand, availability, circularity potential, and socio-environmental implications of critical minerals, supported by scenario modelling, foresight tools, and analysis of financing pathways that inform sustainable mineral strategies, clean energy transitions, and trade positioning.
  • Strategic Supply Chain Mapping and Geopolitical Analysis: To map India’s integration into global critical mineral supply chains and assess geopolitical, environmental, financial, and economic vulnerabilities while offering actionable insights for diversification, strategic reserves, and bilateral/multilateral collaboration on responsible mineral governance.
  • Targeted Policy Convening: To serve as a neutral convener for multi- stakeholder dialogue, co-developing roadmaps on mineral security, circular economy incentives, ESG frameworks, and investment models—including blended finance mechanisms—while advancing South-South and Global South–North cooperation in critical mineral diplomacy.
  • Knowledge Dissemination and Capacity Building: To create and disseminate open-access policy tools, data platforms, and explainer series, while offering targeted training and mentorship for policymakers, researchers, and industry professionals, and fostering awareness of finance-linked circular economy innovations across critical mineral value chains.

We are implementing a structured set of actions, leveraging its research, convening, and capacity-building capabilities to advance the national agenda on critical minerals and circular economy.

Projects

Outreach