Meeting at TERI

The second meeting of the 3C-SET Consortium, hosted at TERI and facilitated by ACPET as Secretariat, solidified the consortium’s governance structure, including forming a Steering and Advisory Committee and several working groups. Members discussed collective fundraising mechanisms, emphasizing the need for pre-identified research themes and that funders not influence the research agenda. Updates were presented on each institution’s research activities around circular economy principles, supply modelling, mining stages, critical mineral imports, battery technology, and geopolitics. Key research focus areas were outlined: responsible mining, technology and capacity needs, demand–supply scenarios, trade and geopolitics, and circularity; the scope of work was expanded beyond clean energy technologies. The meeting established a quarterly consortium schedule, peer review mechanisms for knowledge sharing, an annual flagship event, and development of a dedicated website led by ACPET. Membership became reference-based, industry experts could participate but not hold governing roles, and an Advisory Board nomination process was initiated. The next meeting was scheduled at ICRIER, further entrenching 3C-SET’s collaborative and strategic framework for India’s critical minerals agenda.