Building Subnational Action for Sustainable Critical Mineral Value Chains
October 9, 2026
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Constitution Club of India, New Delhi
India’s critical minerals agenda is moving from policy intent towards implementation. As this happens, state governments will become increasingly important to building sustainable domestic value chains.
For states, resource availability is only one part of the equation. Attracting and sustaining investment will also depend on infrastructure, enabling policies, financing, processing capabilities, technology partnerships, and the capacity to build systems for secondary resource recovery and recycling.
This raises an important question: what will it take for states to be ready for the next phase of India’s critical minerals journey?
This discussion will bring together representatives from government, industry, research institutions and multilateral organisations to examine this question. It will look at the policy and institutional levers available to states, pathways for attracting private investment and strengthening domestic value addition, opportunities for technology and research partnerships, and the role of circularity in building more resilient critical mineral value chains.
Agenda
Time
Session
Details
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Inaugural Session
Welcome address: Ritwika Bhattacharya, CEO, Swaniti Initiative
Context setting: Dr Rajesh Chadha, Senior Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress
Inaugural address: TBC
Special address: Shri Arava Rajkamal, Secretary, Dept of Mines and Geology, Govt of Jharkhand
Framing the discourse: Shri Arindam Banerjee, Co-founder and Partner, Policy & Development Advisory Group
10:30 Am - 11:15 AM
State Presentations on Critical Minerals Roadmap
Odisha: Smt. Aboli Sunil Naravane, Managing Director, Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited, Govt of Odisha
Karnataka: Shri Rangappa S., Director, Department of Mines and Geology, Govt of Karnataka
Jharkhand: Shri Varun Ranjan, Managing Director, Jharkhand Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Tea
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Thematic Session I: Assessing subnational readiness - Aligning subnational policies, incentives, and infrastructure towards critical mineral development
Panelists:
- Smt. Aboli Sunil Naravane, Director, Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited, Govt of Odisha
- Shri Rangappa S., Director, Dept of Mines and Geology, Govt of Karnataka
- Smt. Mani Khurana, Senior Energy Specialist, The World Bank
- Shri Rajat Verma, Chief Executive Officer, LOHUM
Moderator:
- Karthik Bansal, Associate Fellow, CSEP
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Lunch
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Thematic Session II: Determining private investment readiness for Critical Mineral Processing
Panelists:
- Dr Pankaj Satija, Executive Vice President, JSW Steel
- Shri Manish Singla, Head of Minerals Action, Jindal Steel Limited
- Shri Gaurav Bhandari, Chief General Manager, EXIM Bank
- Shri Mayur Karmakar, Managing Director, International Copper Association India
Moderator:
- Dr Abhinav Mathur, Head of Strategy, ATTERO
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Thematic Session III: Role of central and state PSUs in the critical mineral value chain
Panelists:
- Shri Varun Rajan, Managing Director, Jharkhand Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd
- Shri P.M. Prasad, Ex Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Coal India Ltd
- Shri Anuttam Mishra, Director (Technical), Indian Rare Earth Ltd
- Shri Gagan Bihari Swain, Director (Finance), Odisha Power Generation Corporation
Moderator:
- Chinmayi Shalya, Senior Fellow, Swaniti Initiative
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Networking and High-Tea
Partners
