Media releases

Federation University Australia will partner with three Indian institutes to unearth and analyse data needed to improve mine-to-market supply chains for lithium and other rare minerals. 

The lithium export market in Australia is worth around $1.08 billion a year and is forecast to grow in line with demand for mobile phones, laptops, and electric vehicles, with the rare minerals a core ingredient of rechargeable batteries. However, a lack of meaningful data and analysis means opportunities are being missed to maximise the benefits from streamlining supply chains from mines in Australia to consumers in India. 

Federation University has been awarded a $175,000 grant through the Study Melbourne Research Partnerships Program delivered by veski to extract and analyse the data, together with project partners, the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University.

The Study Melbourne Research Partnerships Program has been made possible by funding from the Victorian Government through Study Melbourne. It provides Victorian education providers with vital support for international partnerships and projects – building strategic international relationships in future growth regions. 

In Australia, the research project will be led by Federation University’s Dr Manoj Khandelwal. 

Quotes attributable to Federation University Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Professor Chris Hutchison 
“Federation University is recognised for our data collection and analytical skills. This grant will allow us to use these skills to support the Australian and Indian resource sectors to capture the true value of critical mineral resources.” 

Quotes attributable to Federation University Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator of Mining Engineering, Dr Manoj Khandelwal 
“Federation University has a key role to play in driving economic growth and jobs. The data we collect and the analysis we undertake will play a key role in growing our critical minerals trade opportunities with India, where the appetite for critical minerals is skyrocketing.” 

Quote attributable to CEO of Global Victoria Gönül Serbest 

“Global Victoria and Study Melbourne are proud to support Victorian researchers who are making a difference to their communities and the world - their innovation, ingenuity and collaboration is a reflection of Victoria’s world-class reputation for research excellence." 

Quotes attributable to veski Managing Director and Chief Executive Julia L Page 

“This funding will not only deliver great research outcomes, enhanced by global partnerships, it will also raise awareness of Victoria’s position in the global academic community and demonstrate that the State is open for business when it comes to research collaboration.”