Odisha Mining Corporation has taken a significant step in India’s critical minerals strategy by establishing the country’s first pilot facility dedicated to extracting platinum group metals (PGMs) from mineral ore, as per news reports.
The pilot plant has been established at the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology in Bhubaneswar, in collaboration with South Africa-based Mintek.
The project, with an estimated cost of around ₹10 crore, has been commissioned and is designed to develop capabilities across the full value chain, including beneficiation, smelting and refining of PGMs.
The facility has a processing capacity of one tonne of ore per hour and will focus on validating operational parameters such as recovery rates, consistency of output, and scalability under real-time conditions.
The ore for the project is being sourced from the Bangur chromite mines located in Keonjhar district.
Platinum group metals, which include platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, and ruthenium, are critical for a wide range of advanced industries.
These metals are used in clean energy applications, hydrogen fuel cells, electronics, catalytic converters, defence equipment, medical devices, petrochemical processes, advanced manufacturing, and jewellery.
India currently depends heavily on imports for these metals, while global reserves are concentrated in a few countries. Worldwide PGM reserves are estimated at about 71,000 tonnes, with South Africa accounting for nearly 89%, followed by Russia at 8%, Zimbabwe at 2% and the United States at 1%.
Within India, total identified PGM resources stand at 20.92 tonnes, of which Odisha holds 68%. Other states include Uttar Pradesh at 13%, Tamil Nadu at 8%, Karnataka at 7% and Kerala at 1%. The chromite belts of Keonjhar and Jajpur are considered particularly resource-rich.
The initiative has been structured in two phases. Phase I includes mineral analysis by Mintek, pilot-scale beneficiation studies at IMMT, validation of concentrate quality and preparation of a detailed project report for a beneficiation plant.
Phase II will focus on evaluating smelting and refining processes, conducting expanded pilot trials and preparing a second project report for extracting refined PGMs.
Laboratory studies have already shown that low-grade ore with a concentration of 3.8 grams per tonne can be upgraded through beneficiation. Based on these findings, further collaboration with international partners is being considered for downstream refining technologies.
Officials indicated that this stage is crucial for assessing techno-economic feasibility and laying the foundation for a domestic PGM industry.
If developed at scale, Odisha could emerge as the centre of India’s platinum group metals ecosystem, reducing reliance on imports and strengthening the country’s position in critical minerals.
Platinum, one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust with a concentration of around 0.005 parts per million, plays an important role in fuel cells for power generation, improves storage technologies in electronic devices and supports hydrogen-based mobility solutions.
Palladium and rhodium are widely used in emission control systems, while ruthenium and iridium are essential in electronics and specialised industrial applications.
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The commissioning of India’s first PGM pilot plant marks an important step towards building domestic capabilities in critical minerals, with Odisha positioned at the centre of future development in this strategic sector.
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Published on: Apr 22, 2026, 9:20 AM IST
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