The Ministry of Mines in collaboration with the Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), Nagpur successfully organized the two-days Interactive Workshop & Technical Evaluation Sessions under the S&T PRISM 5.0 (Promotion of Research & Innovation in Startups and MSMEs)  at JNARDDC, Nagpur, during 29-30 May 2026. The workshop provided a common platform bringing together innovators from startups & MSMEs, industry representatives, and experts on critical minerals sector. The S&T–PRISM Scheme is one of the three components of the Science & Technology Programme of the Ministry of Mines. Under S&T–PRISM 5.0, the Ministry of Mines invited innovative proposals across the critical minerals value chain, including exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and value-addition technologies.

The programme was inaugurated by Dr. Anupam Agnihotri, Director, JNARDDC and Shri Sukhdeep Singh, Director, Ministry of Mines. Shri Sukhdeep Singh during his address emphasized the importance of innovations & technological developments to promote self-reliance in critical minerals. He explained how this event is a shift from conventional evaluation to an interactive workshop to encourage collaboration and competitions among startups.

For the first time under S&T PRISM Scheme, an interactive workshop along with the evaluation process to promote enabling ecosystem for startups engaged in critical mineral exploration, processing, recycling, etc is organised. The event is aimed to foster technology exchange, expert interaction, constructive feedback, and experience-sharing among startups, MSMEs, academia, and industry through a competition-based framework. During the workshop the experts from C-MET, DMRL, CSIR-IMMT, CSIR-NGRI, CSIR-NEERI etc., shared their technical inputs with applicants and extended hand holding as well.

Innovation Challenges and competition-based evaluation sessions were organized to identify promising technologies in the critical minerals sector. The initiative enabled startups and MSMEs to present their innovations before Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) experts and receive valuable technical feedback.

For effective technical evaluation and thematic competition, the 31 proposals were grouped into seven specialized clusters covering the critical minerals value chain. These clusters encompassed critical mineral recovery from waste streams and industrial residues, exploration technologies, extraction and separation processes, refining and purification, as well as development of value-added metals, alloys, and process equipment. The cluster-based approach enabled focused assessment, expert mentoring, and meaningful competition among innovators working on similar technological domains.

A key highlight of the second day was the Success Stories Session, where former PRISM beneficiaries viz. Ashvini Rare Earth Pvt. Ltd. (Pune); PolyProtic Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (Vadodara); CellArk Powertech Pvt. Ltd. (Cuttack); and Relira Blastech LLP (Nagpur), shared their entrepreneurial journeys and experiences under the Scheme. It was highlighted how support under PRISM Programme helped them to accelerate technology development, commercialization and industry partnerships. Their experiences provided valuable insights and inspiration to participating startups and MSMEs, demonstrating the transformative impact of innovation-driven support in the critical minerals.

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Prajith Kumar MV

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