Piyush Goyal's US visit: India, America to discuss pact to boost collaboration in critical minerals
India and the US are negotiating a pact to enhance collaboration in essential critical minerals, and the issue will figure during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Washington this week. At the invitation of the US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Goyal will undertake a visit from September 30-October 3.

Govt delegation to leave for Mongolia next month to discuss coking coal imports
An Indian delegation, including senior government officials, will leave for Mongolia next month to discuss importing coking coal from the landlocked nation. The move aims at diversifying raw materials sources, and will not only increase the availability of the key steel making material but also help in cost optimisation of producing the commodity.

Gold prices at all-time high: Rate cuts, geopolitical conflicts drive demand
 

Gold rises 29% so far this year, may soar to Rs 8,000/g by December
 

Hardeep Singh Puri calls to build consensus over bringing petrol, diesel under GST
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday called to build consensus over bringing petrol, diesel under the Goods and Services Tax.

Indian Oil flags off bids for third time for green hydrogen plant at Panipat
Indian Oil Corp has floated a tender for the third time to build a green hydrogen plant at its Panipat refinery in Haryana, after its two previous attempts failed.
 

Mine over matter: Critical mineral policy must address industry needs
The government has offered manufacturers of electric vehicles (EVs), mobile phones, solar panels, and other renewable-energy equipment significant incentives and subsidies. Critical to the operations of such manufacturers is an uninterrupted and robust supply chain of critical minerals that power these industries — lithium, nickel, cobalt, tungsten and graphite, cadmium, chromium, and so on. Building domestic sources of these minerals, then, is essential not only to ensure that climate-change goals are met but that India can build a degree of security and competitive advantage in manufacturing these products of the future. Set against these objectives, which involve spending substantial amounts of taxpayer money, the government’s policy to maximise critical-mineral mining and production has fallen short.

Govt delegation will head to Mongolia next month to discuss coking coal imports

"We are looking at the possibility of importing coking coal from Mongolia. An Industry delegation went (to Mongolia some time back) and a Government delegation is going next month," Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik told PTI.

Small nuclear reactors get traction: Private players offer captive sites for power projects
SC+ Anil Sasi, IE+

New Delhi: India’s plans to get into the manufacturing value chain of Small Modular Reactors is yielding some positives with a handful of private players learnt to have shown interest in deploying these at their captive site. Since the talks are sensitive, sources said disclosing names may not be appropriate at this stage.

Energy firms look to make green hydrogen cheaper
As green hydrogen becomes the buzzword in renewable energy, companies such as Avaada Group, Hygenco Green Energies, and Thermax are working on reducing its cost to make it more economical. Besides, Reliance Industries (RIL) and Adani Group have already annouced plans to make green hydrogen cheaper.

Adani Enterprises arm to harness the sun, make solar parts at Mundra
Adani New Industries (ANIL), the green energy components manufacturing arm of Adani Enterprises (AEL), is setting up facilities to produce solar glass, aluminium frames, and backsheets — key parts for its existing solar cell and module manufacturing. French energy giant TotalEnergies holds a 25 per cent equity stake in ANIL, with AEL being the majority owner. Senior executives said the plan revolves around building its own supply chain to support the solar cell and module manufacturing line. ANIL is currently producing polysilicon wafers, ingots, cells, and modules, creating an end-to-end system for the equipment required in solar module production.