Why Study Critical Minerals?
Critical minerals are the backbone of India's clean energy systems: powering solar panels, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced batteries. As global demand rises, India's strategic priority is to secure minerals through domestic exploration, efficient recycling, and international cooperation.
A heavy reliance on imports from a small set of geographies exposes India to supply disruptions and price volatility. Addressing these vulnerabilities requires a coordinated national approach. A cross-sectoral consortium such as 3C-SET is both necessary and timely to ensure community well-being and sustainability while connecting mineral security to India's economic growth, defense manufacturing, and high-tech sectors.
Who We Are
3C-SET is a multi-stakeholder consortium conceptualized and hosted by the Ashoka Centre for a People-centric Energy Transition (ACPET). It fosters collaboration among researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and development partners to advance India’s strategic roadmap for critical minerals and a circular economy.
Building on the collaborative foundation of NITI Aayog’s Decarbonization Strategy (Working Group-4), 3C-SET demonstrates how converging expertise across government, academia, industry, and civil society can drive systemic change. The consortium serves as a dynamic forum for transparent dialogue, continuous learning, and co-creation of actionable research and policy solutions—ensuring that knowledge translates into real-world impact.
Our Mission
To accelerate India's clean energy transition by establishing secure, sustainable, and circular critical mineral systems through dynamic, cross-sectoral collaboration. The platform translates research and policy insights into practical pathways that advance responsible sourcing, value addition, and inclusive outcomes for communities and ecosystems.
Our Vision
Address supply-chain vulnerabilities through cooperative research and policy innovation.
Promote sustainable sourcing and environmental stewardship that safeguards ecosystems and communities.
Advance circular economy practices such as recycling, urban mining, and material substitution to reduce dependence on primary extraction.
Create a policy-innovation hub that delivers evidence-based recommendations for national and international mineral strategies.
Preamble
We, the undersigned, recognizing the importance of ensuring India's energy security, sustainable development, and technological leadership, hereby come together under the banner of the 3C-SET platform. United by a shared vision and inspired by the recommendations and strategic priorities articulated by NITI Aayog's Working Groups on Critical Minerals and Resource Efficiency, we commit to collaborative efforts in addressing issues related to critical minerals and their circularity. Our collective goal is to contribute to the nation's clean energy transition and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.
Through multi-stakeholder engagement across government, industry, academia, and civil society, we pledge to promote research, innovation, responsible sourcing, and circular economy practices. We aim to build robust knowledge systems, influence policy dialogues, and foster partnerships that place India at the forefront of global efforts in critical mineral security, sustainability, and resource efficiency. This Charter shall serve as our guiding document, defining our collective purpose, principles of engagement, and strategic direction for future actions.
