UK-India Collaboration Targets Mineral Supply Chains

A strategic new partnership has emerged between the UK and India, uniting expertise from CPI (Centre for Process Innovation), the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) at Cambridge and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

The aim is to revolutionise the lifecycle of critical minerals essential for advanced technology and green energy, fostering supply chain resilience and paving a path to net-zero sustainability.

Critical minerals - such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper - are at the heart of technologies driving renewable energy solutions and high-tech innovation.

Through this partnership, these institutions plan to create a first-of-its-kind “observatory” dedicated to monitoring the flow of these materials within supply chains. The observatory will support supply chain stability, particularly within clean energy and tech sectors, where these minerals play an indispensable role.

Establishing a resilient supply chain

As the world relies increasingly on green technologies, from wind turbines to electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells, ensuring a stable supply of critical minerals is more crucial than ever.

This partnership addresses a common challenge: maintaining a sustainable supply chain for these minerals that is secure, reliable and ethically sourced.

The observatory will serve as a shared knowledge centre to track and analyse mineral availability and identify gaps or bottlenecks across the supply chain. By pooling data, both nations can gain an improved understanding of the factors impacting mineral access and recycling, allowing for informed, data-driven decisions on managing resources.

A core function of the observatory is to pinpoint vulnerabilities and identify recycling opportunities, offering both countries a more secure path to mineral independence.

Professor Tim Minshall, Head of IfM, emphasises the timeliness of this initiative: “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.”

The observatory may also explore advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to strengthen supply chains by enhancing material traceability and improving resource management.

Through international cooperation, the UK and India aim to establish a model of mineral stewardship that balances technological progress with environmental responsibility.

CPI’s innovation sprint for sustainable processing

As one of the central players in the partnership, CPI is leading efforts to address the industrial challenges surrounding mineral use by launching an Innovation Sprint.

This programme aims to develop new methods for extracting and refining critical minerals sustainably, focusing on reducing the environmental impact and energy consumption of these processes.

With its sights set on accelerating innovation, CPI intends to support new manufacturing techniques designed to lower carbon emissions while increasing efficiency.

This approach aligns with a growing push to adopt a circular economy - an economic model where resources are reused, recycled and kept in circulation to minimise waste. CPI’s Innovation Sprint targets green innovation, encouraging low-impact processing solutions that bolster both environmental and economic resilience.

“Partnerships such as these provide the blueprint for solving some of the biggest industrial challenges,” explains Dr Arun Harish, Chief Strategy Officer at CPI.

“By working closely with colleagues in India, we can find opportunities that benefit both nations’ energy security and crucially provide some much-needed answers on how we can move sustainably away from fossil fuels.”

Through projects like this, CPI and its partners hope to make critical mineral usage less reliant on fossil fuels and inspire greater investment in sustainable sectors across the UK and India.

By aligning their expertise and resources, these institutions are pioneering a shift towards low-carbon technology and environmentally responsible practices that will benefit both economies.

A pathway to long-term collaboration and net zero

The joint UK-India project reflects a commitment to improving access to critical resources and building sustainable industries for the future.

The partnership supports the India-UK Roadmap 2030, which outlines goals for deepened technology and manufacturing collaboration between the two nations, particularly within the energy and materials sectors.

Notably, the programme forms part of the UK-India Technology Security Initiative, aiming to fortify supply chains and ensure stability for both nations.

Both CPI and IIT Bombay’s involvement in research and development lays the groundwork for advancing the circular economy within the critical minerals sector.

This includes not only expanding technological capabilities and fostering economic opportunity and environmental stewardship in both regions. The observatory’s insights will contribute to infrastructure that enables continuous innovation in clean technology, with a focus on sustainable development goals and the transition to net zero.

In the words of Professor Paul Anderson, Co-Director of BCSECM: “This landmark UK-India collaboration will promote improved elemental stewardship in both countries and help secure access to the critical materials that will make net zero a reality.”

As CPI, IfM and IIT Bombay press forward with their collaboration, they are setting a sustainable foundation for mineral use that could impact critical industries on a globally.

The partnership strengthens both nations’ capacity to achieve net-zero targets, advancing sustainable manufacturing and contributing to economic resilience in the face of global supply chain challenges.

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