On the sidelines of the world's premier mining industry gathering, Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy sat down with New South Wales Finance and Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos at IMARC 2026 on Tuesday, 27 October — a meeting that plugs directly into India's most urgent industrial ambition: securing the minerals that power the clean-energy future.

What was on the table at IMARC 2026

Reddy described the bilateral exchange as 'constructive,' covering three specific fronts: cooperation in critical minerals, the advancement of mining technologies, and new opportunities for manufacturing partnerships. The framing was deliberate — this was not a courtesy call but a structured conversation between two resource-sector principals at a conference that draws the global mining industry to one room each year.

Both sides acknowledged a natural fit. India brings fast-scaling industrial demand and competitive manufacturing capacity; New South Wales brings deep operational expertise in resources extraction and processing — including deposits of the minerals modern industry cannot do without.

The India-Australia critical minerals track record

This meeting does not emerge from a vacuum. India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) in 2022, which embedded minerals and resources cooperation into the bilateral relationship. A year later, in 2023, the two countries formalised a Critical Minerals Partnership framework aimed specifically at securing supply chains for lithium, cobalt and rare earths — the backbone inputs for electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and consumer electronics.

The NSW state-level engagement at IMARC layers directly on top of that federal architecture. State governments in Australia control significant portions of land access and mining approvals, making a minister like Houssos a consequential interlocutor — not just a ceremonial one.

Why India is moving fast on mineral diplomacy

India's push is structural. The country's production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for electric vehicles, advanced chemistry cells and electronics manufacturing have created a domestic industrial base that is hungry for guaranteed mineral inputs. Concentration risk — the world's dependence on a handful of suppliers for critical minerals — has made diversification a national-security priority as much as an economic one.

Reddy noted that 'India's growing capabilities and NSW's expertise in the resources sector offer significant potential to deepen collaboration, build resilient supply chains, and foster mutually beneficial partnerships.' The language of supply chain resilience is the language of strategic planning, not just trade promotion.

The IMARC platform gives both sides a rare window: technical experts, corporate deal-makers and government officials in the same building. Whether this conversation at IMARC 2026 converts into a formal working group, an MoU, or a dedicated bilateral resources dialogue is the live question. Reddy said he looks 'forward to building on this engagement' — the next move is to watch.