On March 6, iCreate (International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology), India’s leading innovation-based start-up incubator, announced its partnership with the Technology Innovation in Exploration & Mining Foundation (TEXMiN), the Mining Technology Innovation Hub of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, to revolutionise in the mining industry through innovation.

As a result of this partnership, startups will help in the electrification of heavy-duty mining equipment and the retrofitting and electrification of widely used machinery. Innovators will also actively work in collaboration to advance energy conservation and ‘green’ification along with identifying solutions to recover and regenerate energy from mining-related activities.  

Commenting on the partnership, Avinash Punekar, CEO of iCreate and Secretariate of Startup20, said, “At iCreate, we are passionate about fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in diverse industries. Our partnership with TEXMiN represents a major step forward to promote progress in the mining industry. With the emergence of EVs and the demand for natural resources, there is an increasing need for innovation in the mining space to deepen our expertise and capabilities. We are excited to partner with such a reputed and visionary organisation and look forward to the positive impact of our collaboration with our combined expertise and resources.”

Through this partnership, iCreate will identify and support start-ups from its portfolio that have relevant solutions in the mining space in the form of paid pilots and technology demonstrations. Apart from providing access to rapid prototyping lab facilities, iCreate will co-create innovation acceleration programs for PSUs and private companies in the mining sector, in partnership with TEXMiN.

Prof. Dheeraj Kumar, Dy. Director, IIT (ISM)Dhanbad and Project Director, and Director of TEXMiN Foundation shared, “The objective of TEXMiN is to promote the use of the latest technologies in mining and exploration. 

The electric vehicle and plant industry’s advancement is still in the early stages, with many of these vehicles still in the concept stage, and as with most emerging technologies, time is still needed for EV mining technology to develop on the market and slowly upgrade to a competitively priced product. 

The initiative to collaborate with iCreate will certainly help the startups and mining landscape to develop and adapt related to the advancement in EV technology – Charging towards the future.

As a result of this collaboration, TEXMiN and iCreate will work together in enhancing the efficiency of mining equipment through electrification, to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels like diesel or gasoline. Energy regenerative solutions will also be deployed to recover energy generated from various sources to be used in alternate applications through a sustainable energy cycle.