National Critical Mineral Mission a boon for India’s clean tech industry

India is fast-tracking the domestic green tech sector through the launch of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM). An expenditure of ₹16,300 crore has been outlaid, and a further boost of ₹18,000 crore investment by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) is on the cards. With the ulterior motive of enabling the exploration of critical minerals within the country and abroad, the NCMM extends across the value chain, from mineral exploration, mining and beneficiation to processing and recycling. 

Scientific research and technological innovation get strategic federal funding 

Scientific research got a big boost in this year’s Union Budget, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocating ₹20,000 crore to the Research, Development and Innovation initiative. Her reasoning was that this is aimed towards “investing in people, the economy and innovation” in India. Also, she created a deep-tech fund to help domestic startups who are working on new generation technologies, and announced more funding for National Geospatial Mission, Vigyan Dhara and Bio-RIDE.

Indian govt turns its attention to developing AI

India has high hopes for artificial intelligence. While PM Narendra Modi chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris, France, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated ₹500 crore for establishing a new Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, while unveiling the Union Budget. It also allocates ₹2,000 crore to the IndiaAI mission, up from ₹173 crore committed in 2024. For the Department of Space, the budget allocation is ₹13,416.2 crore.

Tariffs, stagnating market slow down China’s growing push into Europe’s EV market

Chinese imports of electric vehicles (EVs, including battery EVs and hybrids) posted their “first annual drop since entering the [EU] market”, registering “3.5% fewer EVs” in Europe in 2024 as “trade barriers added to the challenge of building up sales in a stagnant market”, according to a report by Bloomberg. According to data from automotive researcher Dataforce, automakers like MG Motor registered 3.5% fewer EVs in the region for all of 2024.

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