Industry Odisha Bureau, Jul 20: To add value to critical minerals, the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) has decided to set up a Critical Mineral Processing Park (CMPP) at Paradeep.
This was informed by Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines, Satish Chandra Dubey in Rajya Sabha today
Replying to a question of BJP MP Sujeet Kumar, Dubey said the Government has recognised nine premier institutes as Centres of Excellence (CoEs) under the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) for R&D in the critical mineral value chain.
These CoEs include the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT), at Bhubaneswar, he said.
NCMM envisages the establishment of four Critical Mineral Processing Parks (CMPPs) with a financial outlay of Rs 500 crore. Of the four parks, one will be established at Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), Paradeep in Odisha, the Union Minister informed.
He said the proposed CMPP envisages to facilitate critical mineral processing and value addition by providing common infrastructure for industries engaged in processing of critical minerals and support downstream industries that utilize critical minerals as inputs, including the steel sector, wherever applicable.
The investment requirement and employment related aspects of the proposed CMPP form part of Detailed Project Report (DPR), he added.
In the Union Budget 2026-27, the Finance Minister had announced the set up of a dedicated rare earth corridor in Odisha, one of four such corridors planned in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
With its sizable mineral reserves, existing processing ecosystem and upcoming value-addition projects, Odisha is expected to play a key role in India’s efforts to build a resilient critical minerals supply chain and reduce import dependence. The initiatives are also expected to attract investments in sunrise sectors such as electric vehicles, clean energy and defence manufacturing.
