New Delhi, Aug 14. LOHUM, a major Indian producer of sustainable critical minerals and advanced materials, has appointed former Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria (Retd) as its Strategic Advisor as the company launches a programme to recover critical minerals and advanced materials from decommissioned defence equipment.
The initiative, being undertaken in partnership with VishvaSutra, a strategic advisory institution co-founded by Bhadauria, aims to treat phased-out military assets as a potential strategic reserve of critical minerals rather than merely as scrap.
Under the programme, materials embedded in retired aircraft, military vehicles, radars, communication systems, batteries, cables, power systems, electronics and specialised equipment will be recovered and reintroduced into India’s industrial supply chains.
LOHUM said the initiative assumes significance amid India’s dependence on imports for several critical minerals required for defence, semiconductors, electronics, clean energy and mobility. Decommissioned military platforms contain significant quantities of materials such as titanium, aluminium, copper, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements, specialised steels and high-performance alloys.
The company said conventional disposal mechanisms, including auctions and export channels, can result in valuable materials leaving the domestic industrial ecosystem, only for India to import them later in refined or manufactured forms. Recovering these materials domestically could help reduce import dependence and strengthen supply-chain resilience, in line with the National Critical Minerals Mission and the broader objective of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-reliant India).
The programme will focus on three broad areas.
The first is the creation of a secure and transparent defence-material recovery ecosystem covering the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. The objective is to establish trusted channels through which materials recovered from end-of-life defence assets remain within India’s industrial economy.
The second pillar involves developing indigenous technologies for extracting and refining critical materials. LOHUM, with support from VishvaSutra, plans to advance programmes involving gallium, titanium and rare earth elements, as well as tantalum, tungsten and other strategic materials, from laboratory development towards demonstration and operational readiness.
These materials are essential for a range of strategic applications, including semiconductors, sensors, jet engines, communication systems, batteries, aerospace structures and precision weapons.
The third pillar focuses on developing a national institutional framework for critical minerals in the defence sector. This includes identifying opportunities to indigenise products and technologies dependent on critical minerals and contributing to a policy and strategy paper for engagement with the government and other institutions.
LOHUM also plans to establish an annual national platform bringing together the armed forces, policymakers, scientists, manufacturers, refiners, technology developers and investors to address India’s critical-material requirements.
The company said its existing capabilities in advanced refining and recycling include the recovery of copper, aluminium, nickel, cobalt, lithium, titanium, specialty steels, rare earth elements and high-performance alloys. These materials are processed into critical minerals, advanced metals, engineered materials and components for sectors including electric mobility, renewable energy, energy storage, electronics, aerospace and defence.
LOHUM Founder and CEO Rajat Verma said the appointment of Bhadauria would help the company develop a framework for recovering, refining and reintroducing strategic materials from retired defence assets into India’s industrial economy.
Bhadauria said applying the principles of precision, discipline and long-term national interest associated with the defence ecosystem to the recovery of strategic materials could create an important opportunity for India.
He said equipment that had once helped safeguard the country’s borders could continue to serve national interests by strengthening India’s critical-mineral supply chains, while indigenous technology development in areas such as gallium, titanium and rare earths could contribute to the country’s future industrial and strategic capabilities.
