Research in rare earths mining to get grants

The government will offer grants of ₹5 crore to startups and ₹10 crore to incubators in order to facilitate research and development in the mining of critical and rare earth minerals.

- Subhash Narayan

The grants will go into facilitating and supporting new technologies, especially those developed by small and medium enterprises.

The mines ministry will support innovation and research for a three-year period through public funds under new guidelines for promotion of research and innovation in startups and MSMEs (micro, small & medium enterprises) in mining, mineral processing, metallurgy and recycling.

This is expected to enable new age mining to adopt global best practices and employ innovative technologies developed in India.

Mint earlier reported about the government’s plan to award and institute R&D projects for critical, rare earth and deep seated minerals such as lithium, nickel, tungsten to bring out sustainable solutions involving robotics, internet of things, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

As per the new guidelines, startups showing capability, intent, and promise to produce functional prototypes or to “productize" existing technologies will be awarded grants of up to ₹2 crore strictly on a “milestone basis".

Moreover, an additional grant of up to ₹10 crore would be given for setting up and strengthening incubation centres.