Australia has strengthened its education and technology ties with India, backing Telangana’s plan to set up a new AI University while positioning the nation’s critical minerals sector at the centre of a fast-growing partnership.
In Hyderabad, Telangana’s Minister for IT and Industries, Sridhar Babu Duddilla, and Minister for International Education, Julian Hill, signed an MoU to support the state’s upcoming AI University at Future City. As part of the agreement, Deakin University will help establish a Centre of Excellence focused on advanced AI research and high-end training.
“With MoU being signed at the Secretariat with Australia’s Minister for International Education Mr Julian Hill, a major step was taken towards strengthening Telangana’s AI ambitions,” Duddilla said.
He said the partnership would help develop globally competitive talent across governance, healthcare, education, life sciences and IT, and support the state’s vision of attracting world-class universities.
“This collaboration reflects Telangana’s commitment to welcoming world-class universities and future-focused skill development. With Deakin’s expertise and opportunities for high-end training in Australia, the state’s innovation ecosystem gains strong momentum and moves closer to becoming a gateway for Digital India.”
Speaking at the India–Australia Business Summit 2025 in New Delhi, Hill framed the education partnership as part of a widening relationship underpinned by clean energy, critical minerals and skills development.
He said Australia’s vast reserves of lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt were emerging as a key pillar of cooperation, helping power India’s ambitions in renewable energy and electric mobility.
“Australia produces over half the world’s lithium and we have the world’s second-largest reserves of nickel, copper and cobalt,” Hill said.
“These resources sit at the heart of the clean-energy superhighway between our two countries.”
Canberra has been pushing to deepen critical minerals ties with India amid global efforts to diversify supply chains. The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, launched in July by India, Australia, the US and Japan, aims to strengthen access to minerals used in defence, electronics, renewable energy and EVs.
The initiative gained urgency after China halted rare earth magnet exports earlier this year, prompting India to fast-track domestic manufacturing, including a ₹7,280 crore approval for five new rare earth magnet facilities.
Hill said bilateral trade had doubled in the past five years following the 2022 Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), with strong growth in Indian exports to Australia in agriculture, automotive and apparel, and rising Australian shipments of ore and minerals to India.
But he warned against complacency, noting that India still accounts for less than 20 per cent of Australia’s trade volume with China.
“Australia and India are now negotiating to upgrade ECTA into a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement, which we’re confident will unlock more trade and investment,” he said.
Hill also highlighted Australia’s multicultural identity and the strength of the Indian diaspora, remarking that “the most common surname among Australian-registered cricket players is Singh”.
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